HISTORY OF THE WORLD 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/historyofworldOOmorr 



History of the World 



BY 



CHARLES MORRIS 



AUTHOR OF "A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, ITS PEOPLE AND ITS INSTITU- 
TIONS," "YOUNG STUDENT'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES," 
"HISTORICAL TALES," ETC. 



WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 




PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON 

B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

1904 



/■■■■ 



UBl»A«7V nf CONGRESS 

TVo Oooies Received 

SEP 10 1904 
c Oowrteht Entry 

CLASS & xxc. No. 

COPY B ' 



j)*-*. 



Copyright, 1904 



J. B. Lippincott Company 



Electrotyped and Printed by 
J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, TJ. S. A. 



PREFACE 

" The proper study of mankind is man. 1 ' Thus wrote 
Alexander Pope, and the truth of his assertion receives the 
ready endorsement of thoughtful men the world over. The 
foundation of this study lies in the history of the human 
race. Of this we know but a small portion, but what we 
do know is of the highest interest and is full of useful les- 
sons which all should seek to learn. 

Every one of us, every man and woman that has ever 
lived, has had something to do with the history of the world, 
has taken some part in those influences which have made 
men and nations what we find them to-day. History has 
something to do with all this, with the work done by the 
multitudes of the people as well as that done by those 
leaders of mankind whose lives greatly helped or hindered 
the progress of the human race. There have been many 
hundreds of these leading men, and it is the story of their 
lives that makes history as it is generally given us. As it is 
they that have controlled the great movements of mankind, 
so it is of them that the historian usually writes. 

The purpose of this book is to give the youthful student 
some little idea of what man has done upon the earth. There 
are thousands of volumes of history, many of them very 
large and full of information. But before any one attempts 
to read these, it is very important to get a general idea of 
man's doings. When we want to know about the nations 
and natural divisions of the earth, we look on a map and 
see for ourselves where they are situated and how they are 

3 



4 PREFACE 

related to one another. When this is carefully done we 
seem to have them all mapped out in our memory, and can 
call them up just as though the map stood before us in the 
air. That is what we are trying to do in the present work. 
It is a sort of outline map of history. In it we can see the 
nations rising and sinking and learn how they were re- 
lated to one another in space and time. We get an idea 
of what man has been doing since civilization first began, the 
great men who have appeared and the great things they have 
done^( Once get the facts given in these pages well fixed in 
your mind, and in future years, when you come to read 
the history of a nation or a period, you will find that you 
have an excellent foundation laid down. You will see 
before your eyes where that nation stands among the various 
nations of the earth, and what it stands for in the history 0f^" 
mankind. And if it is the story of a great king or warrior 
you come to read, you will know in advance just where he 
belongs and what he did of value or injury to mankind. 

In a book of this size the most that could be done was 
to pass swiftly down the great highway of history, point- 
ing out its striking features as we went, but not stopping 
for a close survey of great deeds and great events. Or we 
may liken it to a bird's-eye view of the incidents which have 
taken place on our planet during the historical period, a 
view in which only the events of leading importance can be 
seen. This is all that we set out to do, and all that our 
readers are prepared to accept. We desired to give them a 
general outlook upon civilization in the making; to show 
them how nation after nation has arisen ; how, as time went 
on, better institutions and superior customs were gained ; 
who were the men and what were the causes that moulded 
men into nations, and what has helped civilization in its 



PREFACE 5 

onward course. To the young student such an outline of 
the world's history is of the utmost value. It is important 
that he should gain a clear conception of the progress of 
mankind and fix in his mind the names, periods, and 
general significance of the several nations, and the place 
which each occupies in the great plan of human develop- 
ment. He will find it a lasting benefit to have the whole 
grand scheme clearly outlined in his memory, serving as a 
solid foundation for any plan of historical reading or study 
he may pursue in his later years. 

In studying history the usual method is to begin with the 
history of our own country. But you must see that this 
history stands alone and can be properly understood only 
by learning the history of the nations from which our 
country arose. If you should see one man standing alone 
and hear from him his story, it would not tell you much 
about the history of his city, and you would need to learn 
what thousands of others had done. All men and all 
nations are linked together, and you cannot understand one 
without having some idea of all. That is what makes gen- 
eral history, the story of the world as a whole, so important. 
We have tried to lay down in this little book, in a way that 
will help to fix it in your mind, not only what men have 
done, but how they have lived and what they have learned ; 
to show how civilization has grown up stage by stage, until 
it reached the high level it has now attained. We hope this 
has been done well enough to make our work a useful aid 
to all who may read or study its pages. 

It is the political history of mankind which stands first, as 
the necessary link to bind the whole together, but sufficient 
attention has been given to the arts, manners, and customs 
of different ages to yield some idea of how man has made his 



6 PREFACE 

way onward and upward. The history of our own country, 
as will be seen, has been dealt with very briefly, it being 
taken for granted that the readers of this work are already 
familiar with the story of the United States, and need only to 
have its main features pointed out. As a whole, it is trusted 
that the outline view we have sought to give of what man has 
done upon the earth will suffice to give the student a broad 
grasp of human history, and fit him for fuller studies in 
after life. 



CONTENTS 



PART I 

ANCIENT HISTORY 
SECTION I.— THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 

PAGE 

Introduction 17 

Chapter I. — Babylonia 25- 

Chapter II. — Assyria 38 

The Arts of the Babylonians and Assyrians 44 

Summary of Babylonian and Assyrian History 48 

Chapter III. — Egypt 50 

The Arts and Culture of Egypt 57 

Summary of Egyptian History 68 

Chapter IV. — Palestine and Phoenicia 69- 

Hebrew Religion and Literature 75 

The Arts and the History of Phoenicia 76 

Summary of Hebrew History 81 

Chapter V. — Media and Persia . . , 83 

Civilization in Persia 91 

Summary of Median and Persian History . . 98 

Chapter VI. — China 99- 

Literature and Art in China 106 

Chapter VII. — India 109 

The Customs and Religion of the Hindus , . 110 

Summary of History of China and India 114 

SECTION II.— GREECE AND MACEDONIA 

Chapter I. — Greece before the Persian Wars 115 

Chapter II. — The Persian Invasions of Greece 126 

Chapter III. — Athens in the Age of Pericles 137 

7 



8 CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chapter IV. — The Peloponnesian and Theban Wars 143 

Chapter V. — Philip of Macedon and Alexander the Great . . 154 

Chapter VI. — The Macedonian Empire 162 

Chapter VII. — Social and Public Life in Greece 168 

Chapter VIII. — Art, Literature, and Religion 175 

Religion of the Greeks 179 

Greek Literature , . . 182 

Summary of Grecian History 186 

SECTION III.— ROME 

Chapter I. — The City and its People . 188 

Chapter II. — The Early Roman Wars 198 

Chapter III.— The Punic Wars ... 208 

Chapter IV. — The Growth of the Roman Dominion 218 

Chapter V.— The Era of Civil War 228 

Summary of the History of Republican Rome 241 

Chapter VI. — Rome under the Early Emperors 243 

Chapter VII. — The Later Period of the Empire 255 

Chapter VIII. — Roman Arts and Customs 267 

The Roman Emperors and Notable Events of their Reigns . 278 

PART II 

MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

SECTION I.— THE DARK AGES 

Introduction 281 

Chapter I. — The Invasions of the Teutons 286 

Chapter II. — The Persian and Eastern Empires 293 

Chapter III. — The Empire of the Saracens 299 

The Saracen Civilization 305 

Chapter IV. — The Empire of Charlemagne 310 

The Sea-Rovers 316 

Chapter V. — The Popes and their Influence 321 

Chapter VI. — Feudalism and Chivalry 327 

Chapter VII. — The Era of the Crusades 335 

The Asiatic Migrations 343 

Summary of Early Mediaeval History 345 



CONTENTS 9 
SECTION II.— THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 

PAGE 

Chapter I. — Medleval Progress 348 

Chapter II. — England in Mediaeval Times 356 

Chapter III. — France and Spain . ... 368 

Spain and the Saracens 375 

Chapter IV. — Germany and Italy 378 

Switzerland 382 

Italy and its City-States 383 

Chapter V. — The Elements of Mediaeval Progress 387 

Summary of Later Mediaeval History 392 

PART III 

MODERN HISTORY 

SECTION I.— THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 

Introduction ' . 395 - v 

Chapter I. — The Revolt against the Church of Rome .... 402 

Chapter II. — Philip II. and the Netherlands 409 

Chapter III. — Henry VIII. and the Church of England ... 418 

Chapter IV. — The Religious Wars of France 426 

Chapter V. — The Thirty Years' War 435 

Summary of History of Religious Wars 441 

SECTION II.— THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 

Chapter I. — England from James I. to George III 444 

Chapter II. — France from Richelieu to the Revolution . . . 456 

Chapter III. — Prussia and Frederick the Great 466 

Chapter IV. — Russia and Poland 471 

The Fate of Poland 478 

Chapter V. — The French Revolution 481 

Chapter VI. — The Career of Napoleon Bonaparte 490 

Summary of History, 1600 to 1800 501 



10 CONTENTS 

SECTION III.— THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 

PAGE 

Chapter I. — Europe in Recent Times ' 505 

Chapter II. — The Countries of Asia 518 

Chapter III. — Africa and the Pacific Islands 526 

Chapter IV. — The Colonies and Nations of America 536 

Chapter V. — Progress in Modern Times 551 

Summary of Recent History 559 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Hannibal crossing the Rhone Frontispiece 

The Euphrates at Babylon 27 

An Inscribed Brick from Erech 29 

Convoy of Prisoners and Spoil 32 

Ruins of Babylon 33 

Restoration of a Babylonian Temple 36 

An Assyrian Standard 39 

Sennacherib at the Head of his Army 41 

Head of Ashurbanipal 43 

Restoration of an Assyrian Palace 47 

The Nile during an Inundation 51 

Watering the Fields with the Shadoof 52 

The Great Pyramid . 53 

Head of Mummy of Rameses II 55 

An Egyptian Sphinx 58 

Transporting a Statue in Ancient Egypt 59 

A Harvest Scene in Egypt 60 

An Egyptian Scribe 61 

Weighing the Actions of the Soul 62 

The Island of Philse 64 

An Egyptian Pillow 67 

Jerusalem 71 

The Lake of Galilee 74 

The Mount of Olives 75 

Wells at Site of Carthage 78 

A Phoenician War Galley . 80 

Gateway to Palace of Xerxes 90 

A Persian Cuneiform Inscription 93 

Palaces at Persepolis (restored) 95 

The Great Wall of China 103 

A Manchu Soldier 106 

11 



12 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Building of the Tsung-li-Yamen, Peking 108 

A Brahman from Cashmire Ill 

Rock Carvings in India 113 

A Greek Warrior 120 

The Acropolis of Athens 123 

Miltiades given the Victor's Laurel-Branch 130 

Departure of the Fleet for Salamis 135 

Gate of Agora or Oil Market , 137 

Pericles 139 

Greek Peasant going to Market 144 

Bust of Alcibiades 148 

Piraeus, the Port of Athens 151 

A Macedonian Coin , 155 

Demosthenes 156 

Statue of Alexander the Great 161 

Cleopatra 165 

Couch used at Meals 171 

Ruins of the Parthenon 176 

The Theatre of Dionysus at Athens . . 177 

Lycurgus consulting the Oracle 181 

Homer, the Bard of the Iliad 183 

Socrates 185 

Consul between two Laurel-Crowned Fasces 194 

Fasces, Roman Symbol of Power 194 

A Roman Consul in his Official Robes 196 

Camillus leading his Army to Rome . . 201 

Roman General and Standard-Bearers 205 

A Roman Bireme .... , 209 

A Roman Harbor ' 211 

Scipio addressing his Troops 215 

The Burning of Carthage . . 217 

Vessels laden with Troops and Plunder 220 

The Coliseum and the Arch of Titus 223 

A Mounted Archer 228 

Cicero 233 

Julius Caesar as a General 234 

Cato about to commit Suicide 236 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS . 13 

PAGE 

Mark Antony 239 

The Battle of Actium 240 

Augustus Caesar 243 

Trajan's Bridge over the Danube 244 

Praetorian Guardsmen 245 

Roman Amphitheatre at Nimes, France . 246 

The Emperor Tiberius in Old Age 249 

The Emperor Nero as Victor in the Greek Games 250 

The Arch of Titus 251 

Bas-Relief of Earthquake at Pompeii ' . . 252 

The Emperor Antoninus Pius 253 

The Emperor Septimius Severus 254 

The Emperor Trajan crowned with Laurel 256 

The Ruins of Palmyra 258 

The Hippodrome at Constantinople 261 

German Auxiliaries 263 

Attila, the Hun, the " Scourge of God 1 ' 265 

A Roman Soldier 268 

Triumphal Arch of Constantine 269 

The Baths of Caracalla 272 

The Tomb of Hadrian 276 

The Vase of Soissons . 290 

Homage of the Parthians to Marcus Aurelius 293 

Remains of the Arch of Chosroes at Ctesiphon 295 

Mohammed, the Arab Prophet 299 

Medina 300 

The Rock of Gibraltar 303 

Charles Martel 304 

Court of Lions of the Alhambra 306 

A Street in Seville and the Giralda 308 

Charlemagne 311 

Charlemagne in his Imperial Costume 314 

A Soldier and Ship of the Saxons 317 

Norman Vessel of the Eleventh Century 318 

A Warrior of the Franks 320 

Clovis entering Tours dressed in Roman Costume 322 

Hildebrand, Pope Gregory VII 324 



14 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Knights and Men-at-Arms 328 

The Castle of Salzburg 331 

Single Combat of Knights 333 

Peter the Hermit and the Patriarch of Jerusalem 336 

A Knight of the Cross 337 

St. Bernard preaching the Second Crusade 339 

The Capitulation of Acre 341 

Church of St. Sophia, Constantinople 345 

Summons to a Town to surrender 349 

Carts of the Eleventh Century 351 

The Battle of Hastings 357 

The Death of William Rufus 359 

English Money Dealer of the Fifteenth Century 361 

The Margonneau, a Fifteenth Century Military Machine 364 

An English Archer 367 

Starving Peasants fighting the Dogs for Bones 370 

Louis XI 373 

Ramparts of City of D'Aigues Mortes 374 

Landing of Columbus ' 376 

A Mediaeval German Fisherman 378 

Maximilian I. crowned by the Pope 380 

Frederick Barbarossa 381 

A Battering-Ram 384 

A Saxon Warrior 389 

The Chateau de Coucy 391 

Reception of Columbus by the Court 397 

Statue of Gutenberg 399 

The Port of Antwerp in 1520 412 

A Three-Masted Galley of the Sixteenth Century ..414 

Clock given by Henry VIII. to Anne Boleyn 420 

Man-of-War in which Henry VIII. went to France in 1520 . . . 422 

Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots 424 

Queen Elizabeth's Coach 425 

The House of Calvin .428 

Catherine de Medicis in her Young Days 430 

Watching the Massacre of St. Bartholomew 432 

Castinsr Cannon-Balls 437 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 15 

PAGE 

Pikeman of Time of James 1 444 

Musketeer of Time of James 1 445 

Oliver Cromwell 447 

Entry of Charles II. into London 448 

London from the River early in Seventeenth Century 450 

The Bellman of London, 1616 454 

Archers of the Bodyguard 458 

Louis XIV 459 

Louis XVI 463 

The States-General 464 

Statue of Frederick the Great 468 

House of Peter the Great 475 

The Revolutionary Mob of Paris 485 

Marat 487 

Death of Robespierre 488 

Birthplace of Napoleon 491 

Napoleon on the Bridge of Arcole 498 

Napoleon meeting the Queen of Prussia 497 

The Retreat from Moscow 500 

The Bull Ring at Seville 507 

Statue of Byron and Greece . 508 

Statue of Nicholas 1 512 

Meeting of Napoleon III. and Bismarck ... 515 

Mirabeau 516 

The Taj Mahal 518 

Dai-Buts, the Japanese Buddha 521 

A Desert Camp 526 

A Boer Commando 532 

Johannesburg 533 

The Ships of Columbus . 536 

The Mexican Calendar Stone 537 

The Heights of Quebec 539 

Signing the Declaration 541 

George Washington 542 

Independence Hall at the Time of the Revolution 543 

Statue of Bolivar 545 

Abraham Lincoln * 547 



16 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

A Scene at Gettysburg 548 

An English Palace 552 

The Court of Honor at the Chicago World's Fair 554 

George Stevenson's Locomotive, the Rocket, 1829 555 



MAPS 



PAGE 



Babylonia and Assyria 26 

Kingdoms of Lydia, Media, and Babylonia, 550 b.c 35 

Egypt 50 

Greece 116 

Plan of City of Athens 138 

Empire of Alexander the Great 160 

Italy b.c. 150 225 

Roman Empire 238 

Europe in the Fifth Century 286 

Empire of Charlemagne 314 

France in Time of Hugh Capet 369 

Mohammedan Empire 416 

Europe in 1810 • 496 

Europe in 1900 518 



INTRODUCTION 

We are sure that most readers, young and old alike, would 
like to know something about the history of the world they 
live in, something <about the many nations that have dwelt 
upon the face of the earth, where they have lived, what they 
have done, the great men they have had, the wars they have 
fought, and their labors in time of peace. Is not all this 
important to know ? And can there be anything of more 
interest to us all than to learn what man has been and has 
done? For thousands and thousands of years men have 
been working and striving, thinking and writing, exploring 
and discovering, and growing wiser and better, until the 
great and enlightened nations of the present time have arisen. 

It has been a long journey from the early days of man- 
kind to the present. At the beginning we meet with vast 
multitudes of men, divided into families and tribes and 
nations, rising and falling, coming and going, like moving 
figures in a great picture. In this book it is our purpose to 
lead you along this mighty path, show you the nations as 
they came and went, and let you behold them in the 
strange and wonderful events of their lives. Just think 
what great things have taken place during the few years of 
your own lives, and with what interest you have read or 
heard of them. Such things, and many more wonderful 
ones, have been taking place ever since man came upon the 
earth, and it is these things that make up history. Only a 
few of the more important of them can be told here, for the 
story of them all would fill a whole library of books. But 

2 17 



18 INTRODUCTION 

there is little doubt that you will find even these few well 
worth reading about. 

How History began. — What is history ? It is the writ- 
ten story of mankind and of the doings of nations. Mil- 
lions and millions of men have lived who had nothing to do 
with what we call history, for we know little or nothing 
about them or their actions. It is only since man learned 
how to write that true history has existed, for history is 
largely made up of the deeds of great men, the kings and 
conquerors, the workers and thinkers and inventors of the 
world, and of these we can learn only from the written or 
the printed page. 

As you may see, it is to the writer that we owe all we 
know of history, and as the art of writing was learned after 
man became civilized, all history belongs to the period of 
civilization. 

Relics of Early Man. — Of course, we know something 
about the doings of uncivilized men, but we have learned it all 
through the discoveries of civilized travellers and students, 
who have searched the world for facts, and have written 
these down in books. The tools and weapons used by 
early man have been found in vast numbers. Their rude 
buildings have been studied, their graves have been opened, 
and many of their movements over the face of the earth 
have been traced. This is not history, but science. For 
history we must know a good deal about how nations were 
formed and kept together, the names and deeds of their 
leading men, and the important events which took place in 
their career. 

The Savage State. — Men are divided, as no doubt you 
know, into three classes, — the savage, the barbarous, and 
the civilized. These three classes still exist ; there are 



INTRODUCTION 19 

to-day many savage and barbarous tribes and civilized 
nations. But at one time, very far in the past, all men are 
thought to have been in the savage state, living by hunting 
and fishing, wandering from place to place, dwelling in 
caves or trees, or rude huts, and wearing little clothing other 
than the skins of animals. At one time our own country 
was inhabited by people of this kind, and some of our In- 
dian tribes are still in the savage state. 

"What is meant by Barbarism. — A higher stage is that 
of the barbarian. The time came when men learned the 
art of taming animals and using them for food and other 
purposes. They had cattle, and sheep, and horses, and 
camels, and they began also to plant seeds, and to raise 
plants whose fruits and seeds they could use for food. 
Their homes, too, got to be more comfortable, and their 
tribes or clans grew better organized, with some rude kind 
of laws and government. This is what we call the barbar- 
ous state. Many of the people of Africa and Asia are still 
in this state. 

The Origin of Civilization. — Years and years passed 
on, nobody knows how many, and then civilized peoples 
began to appear. Many men ceased to wander about the 
earth as hunters or fishers, or to follow their flocks from 
pasture to pasture, carrying their tents with them, or build- 
ing rude huts of branches and leaves. They had learned a 
great deal about how to cultivate the earth, and now settled 
down in the midst of their fields, and built themselves fixed 
homes, and fed their animals in pastures of their own. 
Some of them learned how to take water from the rivers, 
and carry it in canals so as to spread it over the land, and 
in this way to make their food plants grow and bear more 
abundantly. 



20 INTRODUCTION 

The Gathering- of the Nations. — When this had come 
about large numbers of people could live close together, and 
have enough to eat and to wear, and build good houses with 
plenty of furniture and other comforts. And some of them 
grew rich and some powerful ; and laws and religions arose 
among them ; and they had their priests, and their army 
leaders, and their rulers ; and in time the art of writing 
was invented, and scribes began to write down the story of 
what their kings and generals and priests and learned men 
had done. This is what we call the civilized state. Great 
bodies of men, settled in fixed districts, bound together by 
laws and customs, protected by armies and governed by 
rulers, form what we call civilized nations. 

"What History means. — What is usually meant by history 
is the doings of settled and civilized nations. It includes the 
lives of their great men and the story of the people as a 
whole ; their works, their organization, their arts, their deeds 
in war and peace, their growth in numbers and power, and 
in most cases their final decline and their overthrow by some 
stronger nation or people. But to become true history the 
story of their laws and organization and deeds must have 
been written down at the time, otherwise we could know 
their doings only by the doubtful legends told of them and 
the relics left behind ; and the study of the relics of human 
labor is not history ; it is what is known as the science of 
archaeology, — that is, research into the works of man's 
hands. 

The Races of Men. — Men are not all alike. In fact, they 
are often very unlike. There are not only the small differ- 
ences which we see in the men around us, but there are 
great differences between the inhabitants of the widely sepa- 
rated sections of the earth. These are so strongly marked 



INTRODUCTION 21 

that we divide men into races. Thus there are races based 
on the color of the skin. We speak of the white race, the 
yellow race, the black race, and the red race. There are 
also races based on language. These are known as the 
Ar'yan, the Tura'nian, the Semit'ic, the Hamit'ic, and other 
races. 

The Historic Races. — We shall find, as we go on, that 
history has had very little to do with any of these races but 
one, the white or Caucasian race, which includes three of 
the races founded on language, — the Aryan, the Semitic, and 
the Hamitic. The yellow or Turanian race has only one 
important historic nation of ancient date, the Chinese, and 
one of later date, the Japanese ; as for the other races, the 
black men of Africa have made scarcely any history and the 
red men of America not much more. The history of the 
world, then, is very largely that of the white race, the great 
civilized race of mankind. 

The "White Race. — Where shall we find this white race ? 
If we seek it to-day we must look for it all over the earth's 
surface, for there are few lands where men can live at all to 
which white men have not gone. And they are the lords 
and masters of much the greater part of the earth. But 
this was not the case in the far past. Then they were con- 
fined to Europe and the southern part of Asia and a small 
country in the northeastern part of Africa. 

The Aryans. — You have been told that the white race 
is divided into the Ar'yans, the Sem'ites, and the Ham'ites. 
These are what are called linguistic races. That is, each of 
them has a kind of language of its own. Very long ago the 
Aryans had spread all over Europe and over Persia and 
India in Asia. They were divided into many sections, each 
with its own mode of speech, but these all spoke languages 



22 INTRODUCTION 

of one type, from which we judge that they all came from 
one set of ancestors. 

The Semites and Hamites. — When we come to the 
Semites and Hamites we find them dwelling in a much 
smaller space. The Semites were confined to southwestern 
Asia. They' occupied the countries of Arabia, Syria, and 
the region about the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. The 
people dwelling in these regions spoke languages very differ- 
ent from those of the Aryans, but they were white like 
them and were not very unlike them in features. The 
Hamites dwelt in the country of Egypt. They, too, spoke 
a language of a special type, but did not differ greatly from 
the Semites in appearance. 

The Color of the "Whites. — It is well you should bear in 
mind all that is here said, for it is quite important. That you 
may remember it the better, something more may be said 
about it. When we speak of the white race, for instance, 
we do not mean men of pure white complexion. Those of 
the far north of Europe are blond or fair in color, with light 
or red hair and blue eyes. But as we go south we meet 
with men of darker skin, and around the Mediterranean Sea 
we find people with olive or brown skins and with black 
hair and eyes. But there is a general resemblance in their 
features, which are very different from those of the black 
and yellow races, and we feel sure that they all came from 
the same source. 

The Aryan Divisions. — Now let us speak briefly of their 
division into nations or peoples. Of the Aryans, there are 
two great divisions in Asia, — the dark-faced Hindus, who 
inhabit the great peninsula of India, and the lighter-faced 
Persians, who dwell on the highlands north of the Persian 
Gulf. Europe had of old several important divisions, — the 



INTRODUCTION 23 

Greeks and Romans of the south, which were the most im- 
portant peoples in ancient history ; the Slavonians (Russians 
and others) of the east ; the Celts (Irish, French, and others) 
of the west ; and the Teu'tons (Germans, Anglo-Saxons, and 
others) of the centre and north. 

The Semitic and Hamitic Peoples. — The Semites, while 
few in numbers as compared with the Aryans, had also 
several divisions, — the Arabs, the Hebrews, the Phoenicians, 
the Babylon'ians, and the Assyrians. Of these, the Arabs 
may still be found on their native soil, but the Hebrews are 
scattered widely over the earth, and the others have long 
since passed away. The Hamites have only one important 
historical division, — the Egyptians. For ages in the past they 
formed a great and famous kingdom, but their glory vanished 
more than two thousand years ago. 

The Turanians of History. — Let us glance in passing at 
the yellow race, the people sometimes called Tura'nians, 
sometimes Mongolians. There are vast multitudes of these 
people, occupying all of northern, central, and eastern Asia, 
and spreading into the frozen region of the far north of 
Europe. They can scarcely be called historical, except in 
the case of one branch of them, — the Chinese. But in the 
Chinese we have the most populous nation on the face of 
the earth, a mighty multitude of people nearly four hundred 
millions in number. Another branch, the Japanese, has 
recently come into history, and is to-day one of the promi- 
nent nations of the earth, while its written annals go back 
many centuries into the past. You have thus had laid 
before you the names of the leading historical peoples of the 
earth, and now we may begin with their history. 



PART I 

ANCIENT HISTORY 
SECTION I.— THE ORIENT JL NATIONS 

CHAPTER I 
BABYLONIA 

The Mother of Nations. — If any one should ask which 
is the oldest of the nations, it would not be easy to answer. 
For a long time Egypt has been looked on as the mother of 
nations, but late discovery has taught us that Babylo'nia was 
quite as ancient, and may have been the oldest of all civilized 
countries. This being the case, it is well to begin with the 
story of this very old people. 

The Country of Babylonia. — The best way to under- 
stand this story is to look for the Babylonian country on the 
map of Asia. If you look at the southwest corner of this 
map, where Asia and Europe and Africa come together, you 
will see the lines of two rivers, the Euphrates and the Ti'gris, 
which rise in the mountains of Arme'nia and flow south to 
the Persian Gulf. Before they reach this gulf the two rivers 
join and become one stream. It is the country about the 
lower part of these rivers with which we have to deal. The 
name of Mesopota'mia, which means "between the rivers," 
was given of old to the upper section of this country. The 
lower, near where the rivers join together, is often called 

25 



26 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



Chaldea (Kal-de'a), but is best known as Babylonia. It is a 
land that had a long and remarkable history in the far past, 
about which we have learned much in recent years. 




Longitude Eaet from Greenwich 



Map of Babylonia and Assyria. 

A Fertile and Populous Country. — If we should go to 
this country to-day we would find it in great part a swampy 
and sandy desert, with few people besides the wandering 
Arabs, who seek pasture there for their horses, camels, and 
sheep. But if we could have made a visit there three thou- 
sand or more years- ago we would have seen a very different 
sight. Then it was a land full of people, with many crowded 
and busy cities, and with broad fields bearing great harvests 
of wheat and barley and other grains, which grew in won- 
derful luxuriance. On the river-banks were groves of the 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 



27 



magnificent date-palm and the fig-tree, and there were grapes 
and other fruits in great plenty, while the rivers were full of 
fish. Thus it was a land in which a large population could 
live and thrive. 




The Euphrates at Babylon. 
(City Mound in Distance.) 



How Farming- was done. — Let us turn our attention more 
closely to this famous region. The land here is low, not 
rising much above the level of the rivers, and much of it is 
overflowed when the river rises, large swamps being made. 
There are rains in the winter, but the summers are hot and 
dry, and in the far past many long and deep canals were 
made, with ditches to spread the water of the rivers over 
the land. The soil is very rich, and by bringing water to 
the fields they were made to yield splendid harvests of grain. 
It was here that the old Babylonian kingdom grew up, with 
its many cities and its hosts of busy people. Since then the 



28 ANCIENT HISTORY 

canals have been allowed to dry up and the country to be- 
come a desert. This is what war has done for that old land. 

When Babylonia began. — It was formerly thought that 
this old kingdom was founded somewhere about 2000 B.C., 
— that is, two thousand years before the time of Christ. 
But we now know that kings reigned there before 4000 
b.c, and some think that the kingdom is much older even 
than that. Professor Hilprecht, of the University of Penn- 
sylvania, who has explored the ruins of the old cities and 
read many of the books found there, thinks that it goes back 
as far as 7000 b.c, or even 8000 b.c If that is the case it 
is the oldest civilized country known upon the earth. But 
we cannot be sure of this till more discoveries are made. 

The Oldest Settlers. — In the beginning of Babylonia, 
whenever that was, a new people entered the country, con- 
quered its old inhabitants, and took possession of it. Where 
they came from we are not sure, but it is thought they came 
from the hill-country to the north, and brought with them 
some of the arts of civilization, for they soon showed that 
they knew how to read and write. That was a great deal to 
know so long ago as that. Some of their writing still exists, 
and its language seems like that of the people of Northern 
Asia, so it is thought that they were of the Turanian or yel- 
low race. But of this there is some doubt ; we know too 
little about them to be sure. They called themselves Ac- 
ca'dians and also Sume'rians, and from the beginning the 
country was divided into two sections, one called Ac' cad, 
which lay to the north, and the other called Shu'mer, which 
lay to the south, near the junction of the rivers. 

The Cuneiform "Writing-. — The writing of this people was 
of the kind called hieroglyphic or picture-writing, something 
like that of the ancient people of Egypt. In early times it 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 



29 



seems to have been written on papyrus, the kind of paper 
used in old Egypt, or something similar. In later times flat 
pieces of clay were used, on which the letters and words were 
made with a little stamp shaped like a wedge. From this 
the writing is called Cunei- 
form, or " wedge-form." The 
tablets, when stamped, were 
made hard by drying or burn- 
ing and formed the books of 
the Accadians. Many thou- 
sands of them have been found, 
and it is from these that we 
have learned nearly all we 
know of the history of this 
very ancient people. 

"What we know about the 
Accadians. — We know very 
little about the history of this 

old people, but we know something. In reading about their 
kings it is much like as if we were to jump with a great leap 
from Caesar, the emperor of Rome, to William the Con- 
queror, of England, and from him to Napoleon of France. 
For we are given the name of one king, and then of another 
a thousand or two thousand years later, and are told very 
little of what happened between. But the books of the 
Accadians tell us a good deal of importance about their coun- 
try and its people. We know that they had cities whose 
buildings were made of bricks, and that each city had its 
temple and its deity, and that their early rulers were priests 
as well as kings. For a long time each city had its separate 
king, who ruled over the surrounding country also. And 
each, very likely, had its library, which was kept in the tem- 




An Inscribed Brick from Erech. 



30 ANCIENT HISTORY 

pie ; also its schools and workshops and places of business, 
for those cities were more like our own than one would 
expect when we think of their very ancient date. 

How the Land was named. — For a long time this coun- 
try was known as the land of Shumer and Accad, and when 
a king ruled over the whole country he called himself " King 
of Shumer and Accad," or " King of the Totality." In the 
Bible Shumer is called Shi'nar, and we are told that it was 
here the sons of Noah settled and the Tower of Babel was 
built. In far later times, about 2000 B.C., a people from the 
south called the Kal'di invaded the land, and in time they 
became masters of it all and their kings ruled over it. It 
was from them that the country got the name of Chaldea 
(Kal-de'a), and the people of Chalde'ans. Before that time 
the city of Bab'ylon had become the chief city of the land, 
and from it the country became known as Babylo'nia. This 
is the name by which it is now best known. 

The Early Cities and Kings. — Very far back in the history 
of the land there were a number of cities, some of the 
oldest being E'ridu and Nip'pur (now Niffer) and Ur and 
Shirpur'la and U'ruk or E'rech (now War'ku). These cities 
are now heaps of ruins, with Turkish villages near some of 
them. If we go back to the very beginning of their history 
we meet with the name of King En-shag-sag'ana, " Lord 
of Ken'gi." Some writers think that he lived about 4500 
b.c, but if this is so it is likely that there were many kings 
before him. His capital city was Nippur, and he conquered 
Kish, "the wicked," and that is about all we know of him. 
After him came other kings, some of whom were very war- 
like. One of them, named Lu-gal-zag'gi-si, tells us that his 
empire reached "from the rising to the setting of the sun." 
But in those days this did not mean nearly so much as it 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 31 

would now, and it may have been much of a boast. It is 
likely his kingdom was not very large. 

"When Sargon reig-ned. — The first king we know much 
about was Sar'gon, the earliest great conqueror spoken of in 
history. We even know when he lived, and that is much 
to know about so old a king. One of the latest kings of 
Babylonia tells us that Sargon's son reigned about 3750 b.c, 
so Sargon must have reigned about 3800 b.c. This is very 
likely true, for lists of the kings and the length of their 
reigns were kept in the temples of Babylon, and it was easy 
enough to count back. 

The Legend about Sargon. — The old writings tell us a 
very interesting story about Sargon. It says that his mother 
was one of the poor people, and that he did not know his 
father. His mother put him in a basket-boat made of rushes 
and set him afloat in the river. A canal-builder drew him 
from the water and brought him up as his own son, and he 
became his gardener. Afterwards he rose to be king of the 
whole land. This is much like the story in the Bible about 
Moses, who was left by his mother in the bulrushes by 
the river-side and taken out by the king's daughter. 

The Story of Two G-reat Kings. — As has been said, we 
do not know much about the first settlers of Babylonia. 
But we do know that the Semites of Syria and Arabia made 
their way into that country and in time became the ruling 
race. They took up the arts and customs of the older peo- 
ple, though they kept their own language. Sargon was a 
Semitic king. He ruled over all the land, and made the 
city of A'gade, in the north of Accad, his capital. And he 
led his armies far to the east and the west; from the 
mountains of Elam to the distant Mediterranean Sea, and 
also north into Armenia and south into Arabia. He was, as 



32 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



we have said, the first great conquerer that history tells us of. 
For three years his armies were on the Mediterranean coast, 
no doubt fighting and conquering, and they may have gone 
down into Egypt. His son, Na'ram Sin, was also a great 
warrior, who conquered the land of Magana, in the penin- 
sula of Sinai, where the Egyptians worked mines of tur- 
quoise and copper. A seal of his has been found in the island 
of Cyprus. He gave himself the proud title of "King of 
the Four Regions, 11 meaning "King of the World. 1 ' 




Convoy of Prisoners and Spoil. 



Ur Gur and Dungi. — It is long before we read of another 
great king. The first is Ur Gur, of the city of Ur, and after 
him his son Dungi. Their time was about 3000 b.c. They 
conquered the whole country and were the first to call them- 
selves "King of Shumer and Accad. 1 ' The most important 
work they did was to build temples in all the chief cities. 
Probably the old temples were broken down with age, for 
the country even then was very old, and these kings built 
them up again. 

Dungi the Second. — Another Dungi, who came several 
centuries later, was also a builder of temples. He led his 
armies into Syria and called himself "King of the Four 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 33 

Regions,' 1 and was so great a monarch that after he died the 
people worshipped him as a god. In old times, you must 
know, many kings were looked on as gods after they died, 
and some while they lived. 

Elam conquers Babylonia. — To the east of Babylonia, 
in the mountain region, there was then a country named 



Ruins of Babylon. 

Elam. No doubt, as the centuries went on, its people 
learned some of the arts of war and peace from Babylonia, 
and about 2300 b.c. one of its kings led an army into that 
country and conquered all or part of it. From the city of 
Uruk he carried away a statue of the goddess Nana. More 
than sixteen hundred years afterwards a king of Assyria cap- 
tured Susa, the capital of Elam, and found this statue there 

8 



34 ANCIENT HISTORY 

and sent it back to its old city. In those days each of the 
cities had a god of its own. They set much store by their 
statues, and it was looked on as a dreadful misfortune to 
lose them. So the people of Uruk were very glad to get 
their god back after these many years. 

Babylon and its Early History. — The country we call 
Babylonia was several thousand years old before we hear 
much of Babylon, the city to which it owes its name. Yet 
Babylon must have been a very old place, for we are told 
that Sargon built a temple there. Its first king that we know 
of reigned about 2400 b.c. But about 2250 b.c. one of its 
kings, named Khammura'bi, went to war with the Elamites, 
and drove them out of the northern country. That made 
Babylon the royal city of the land, and it kept this position 
until the kingdom came to an end. 

A Famous Builder. — Khammurabi was an able and active 
monarch and did much for the good of his city and country. 
For one thing, he was a great canal-builder. The first canal 
was dug centuries before by King Urukag'ina, and he 
thought it so useful that he named it after the goddess Nina. 
Before that the fields were watered by lifting water from the 
rivers. New canals, long and deep, were built by Kham- 
murabi, and much more land was brought under cultiva- 
tion. He also built temples and a fine palace, and he fortified 
the city and built a great wall along the river Tigris, to keep 
out the Elamites. 

Babylon and Assyria. — We do not know much about the 
early history of Babylon. It is said to have been conquered 
about 2000 b.c. by the southern tribe called the Kaldi, of 
whom we have spoken; and in 1543 b.c. by Arabian in- 
vaders, but of all this we know very little. In after-times 
it became .far better known and. grew to be mighty and. 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 



35 



famous among the cities of the earth. It was called Babylon 
the Great. About 1300 b.c. it was captured by the Assyr- 
ians, of whom you shall be told later on. But they did not 
hold it long at that time, and it was not till 728 b.c. that 
it came fully under Assyrian rule. At a later time the 
brother of the Assyrian king was made King of Babylon. 

Babylon is destroyed and rebuilt. — In 690 b.c. a 
terrible misfortune came to this old city. t The people of 




Kingdoms of Lydia, Media, and Babylonia, 550 b.c. 



Babylonia gave the Assyrians so much trouble by their 
rebellions that King Sennach'erib ordered his soldiers to 
destroy their city. So its walls and buildings were thrown 
down, its temples and palaces levelled to the ground, its 
people killed, and all its wealth was given to the soldiers. 
A canal was turned from its bed so as to flow over the ruins 
and sweep the great city from the face of the earth. But 



36 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



the next king ordered it to be rebuilt, and the new city was 
a finer one than the old city had ever been. 

Babylon revenges Itself, — The time was soon to come 
when Babylon would be revenged. The enemies of Assyria 
were rising against it, and King Nabopolas'sar of Babylon 
joined with the King of Media and marched into Assyria. 




Restoration of a Babylonian Temple. 

The great city of Nin'eveh was taken and destroyed, and 
the empire of Assyria came to an end. This was about 
606 b.c. 

The Deeds of Nebuchadnezzar. — Nabopolassar was a 
great soldier and so was his son Nebuchadnez'zar, and 
between them they made a splendid city of Babylon and a 
powerful country of Babylonia. You may read about 
Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible, for he became a famous con- 
queror. After he had defeated the King of Egypt, he de- 
stroyed Jerusalem and carried all the people of the Hebrew 






THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 37 

kingdom of Judah to Babylon, where they were kept for 
many years. He also took the great city of Tyre, after a 
siege lasting thirteen years. 

Babylon in its Splendor. — Nebuchadnezzar made Babylon 
one of the greatest cities of the ancient world. He built a 
splendid palace and a great temple and the famous " hanging 
garden, 1 ' which was one of the "Seven Wonders of the 
World." For this he had very high walls made, with a 
broad platform on top, on which earth was placed and trees 
were planted. This was done to please his wife, who came 
from the mountain country of Media and loved to see trees 
growing on the hills. The city was of very great size and 
was surrounded by vast walls three hundred and thirty-five 
feet high and eighty-five thick. In each side of the walls 
were twenty-five brass gates. The broad Euphrates River 
ran through the city and was guarded on both sides by 
walls, so that the city was very strong. 

The Persian Conquest. — The kingdom of Babylon did 
not last very long after this. Nebuchadnezzar died and was 
followed by four other kings, and then the city was captured 
by the King of Persia, and the ancient kingdom lost its 
liberty. It was made part of the Persian Empire. But the 
city continued great and famous for many years afterwards, 
though in the end it fell into ruin so great that no one knew 
even where it stood. Its site was discovered only in our 
own days. Thus ended a kingdom which began in the gray 
old ages of antiquity and came down to the period of 
Grecian and Roman history. Though it passed away nearly 
two thousand five hundred years ago, no country has had 
so long a history, not even China, for this ancient land was 
thousands of years old before China began. 



CHAPTER II 

ASSYRIA 

If we follow the Tigris River to the north, beyond the 
borders of Rabylonia, we find ourselves within the limits 
of a new nation, which in time grew amazingly and be- 
came the first great empire of the earth. This is the far- 
famed Assyria, about which we have now to speak. 

The Beginning- of Assyria. — The Assyrian Empire began 
in a very modest way, as all empires do. Its first people 
seem to have come from the crowded Babylonian low- 
lands, and made their way into the higher and more 
rocky country which lay between the Tigris and the moun- 
tains to the east. How long ago this was no one can tell, 
but no doubt it was very far back in the past. 

A Mig-hty Nation. — In those early days and for cen- 
turies later the Assyrians were under the rule of the Baby- 
lonian kings. But these kings had their own troubles and 
misfortunes, foreigners came in and conquered their coun- 
try, and the Assyrians became a separate and independent 
nation. This may have been as early as 1500 B.C. For 
many centuries after that Assyria was the ruling country in 
that part of the world, and in the end it grew to be so war- 
like and powerful that all the nations trembled at its name. 
Its people were fierce and fond of war, and many of its 
kings were famous soldiers and conquerors. 

An Assyrian Conqueror. — The kings of Assyria had 
long names, but they appear to have had long swords as 
well, and to have made much use of them. The first 

38 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 



39 



famous soldier among them was Tig'lath-Pile'ser L, who be- 
gan to reign about 1130 b.c. He had many wars, and 
gained many victories, and built palaces and castles and 
temples, and dug canals, and brought home cattle and plants 




an Assyrian Standard. 

from foreign countries, and carried away much wealth and 
many slaves, and was a very great and proud king. 

Later Kings. — More than two centuries passed by, and 
then came two or three strong kings, who made great con- 



40 ANCIENT HISTORY 

quests and spread the power of Assyria far to the north and 
the west, and gathered rich tribute from the nations. Some 
of them made Babylon yield to Assyria as its lord. Then 
more centuries passed, with now and then a mighty king, 
who won victories, and brought home spoil, and built rich 
palaces. 

Sargon the Conqueror. — Most famous of them all was 
Sar'gon, who came to the throne in 722 b.c. He bore the 
same name as the famous old King of Babylonia, and like him 
was a great soldier and conqueror. One of the celebrated 
things he did was to conquer Samaria, in which dwelt what 
were known as the Ten Tribes of Israel. These he carried 
away into captivity. They never came back again, and are 
known to this day as the " lost tribes of Israel." He also 
conquered Egypt and made the proud Pharaohs pay tribute 
to Assyria. Then he had a large city built, to which he 
gave his own name, and dwelt there in a splendid palace. 
To-day this city is a great heap of ruins, but many statues 
and other relics have been found within the ruined walls of 
its old palace. 

Sennacherib and his Armies. — Sargon died in 705 b.c, 
and his son, a warlike king named Sennacb/erib, came to 
the throne. His name and some of his history may be read 
in the Bible, for his armies overran Palestine and took many 
of the walled cities of the Jews, from which great riches 
and many captives were carried off. He tells us of his 
doings in a boasting inscription, and says, "And Hezekiah 
himself [the King of Judea] I shut up in Jerusalem, his 
capital city, like a bird in a cage, building towers round the 
city to hem him in, and raising banks of earth against the 
gates, so as to prevent escape." But the King of Egypt 
came to the aid of Hezekiah, and the Assyrian army was 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 



41 



"smitten by the angel of the Lord. 1 ' That is a Biblical way 
of saying that it met with a terrible disaster. So the proud 
king went back without glory to his kingdom, after losing a 
vast number of his soldiers. 




Sennacherib at the Head op his Army. 

The Splendor of Nineveh. — Sennacherib was an active 
builder, like his father, and took a new city for his capital, 
which he made great and famous. Here let us say some- 
thing about the cities of Assyria. For many centuries As'sur, 
or Ash'ur, was the capital city. It was far down on the banks 
of the Tigris. Then the great kings began to have capitals of 
their own. The grandest and most famous of them all was 
Nin'eveh, in which Sennacherib had his palace and his 
throne. It was an old place, but he built it up again until 
it was one of the most splendid cities of its time. He speaks 
of how he widened the streets and built royal edifices, and 
he tells us, in his boasting way, " I have made the whole 
town a city shining like the sun." Yet a sad end came to 



42 ANCIENT HISTORY 

this proud king after all his great deeds, for, when he had 
built himself a splendid palace, and expected to live there in 
pride and glory, he was murdered by his own sons. 

A Vast, Loose Empire. — The empire of Assyria had now 
reached its greatest might and power. Its dominion spread 
far to the east, the west, and the south. All southwest Asia 
was under its control, and far-off Egypt had felt its conquer- 
ing arms. But all it asked from its subject states was tribute 
and homage, and most of them were allowed to keep their 
own kings, who soon won back their liberty. So you may 
see that it was a very loose sort of an empire, with not 
much real strength. And even when it was at the height 
of its power its ruin was not far away. 

The Palace of Sardanapalus. — The grandson of Sen- 
nacherib was named Ash'ur-ban'i-pal. He was called Sar- 
danapa'lus by the Greeks, and, like the kings just named, he 
was a famous warrior. He built himself a magnificent palace 
in Nineveh, and on its walls were sculptured the scenes of 
his battles and sieges. These pictured stones have been 
found, and are very strange and wonderful. They are now 
in the British Museum. But much the best thing this king 
did was to place in his palace a royal library full of the 
writings of the authors of Assyria and Babylonia and of 
ancient Accad and Simmer. This also has been found, 
and from it we have learned much of what we know about 
those old countries. 

The Fall of Nineveh. — Cruel were the kings of Assyria 
and terrible were the deeds they did. Many of their captives 
were put to death with frightful tortures, and the people of 
the nations hated them with a bitter hate. For nearly seven 
centuries they had been masters of Western Asia, whose 
people had a dozen times been plundered and treated with 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 



43 



savage cruelty. They were eager for revenge, and the time 
was at hand. Sar'acus, the son of Sardanapalus, and some- 
times called Sardanapalus 
II., was the last of the As- 
syrian kings. With his reign 
came days of woe. A horde 
of harbarians from the north 
broke into his kingdom and 
spread terror through the 
land. From the east came 
the mountain tribes of Me- 
dia, led by a famous war- 
rior. From the south came 
the Babylonians to the aid 
of the Medes. Nineveh, the 
proud city from which had 
marched armies to besiege 
the nations, was itself be- 
sieged by the armies of its 
foes. The Tigris River rose 
and carried away part of its 
walls, the host of avengers 

broke in, and the splendid city was given to rack and ruin. 
The Greek writers tell us that King Saracus, in despair, built 
a funeral pyre in his palace, on which he placed himself, his 
treasures, and his favorite wives, and then set fire to the pile 
and perished in the flames. But we must say that, though 
this story has long been told, no historian believes it to-day. 
How Glory comes and. goes. — Thus, in blood and flames, 
Nineveh the Proud, one of the most magnificent cities of the 
ancient world, passed away, and with it the great empire of 
Assyria vanished and sank into oblivion. The very name of 




Head of Ashubbanipal. 



44 ANCIENT HISTORY 

the empire before which so many nations had trembled soon 
passed out of men's minds. It was about the year 606 b.c. 
that Nineveh fell. Two hundred years later a Greek soldier 
named Xenophon (Zen'o-fon) passed the place where the 
city had stood and saw only a huge heap of ruins. He asked 
its name, but no one was able to tell him. What a commen- 
tary on the pride of the nations is this ! Only two centuries 
gone, and the very name of the mighty city, which seemed 
built for all time, was forgotten even by those who lived be- 
side its ruins. Thus the glory of the nations comes and goes. 

THE ARTS OF THE RARYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS. 

You must now be told something more about the arts and 
civilization of the very ancient Sumerians and Accadians and 
their successors, the Babylonians and Assyrians. The Baby- 
lonians lived in a country in which there was no stone. But 
they had plenty of good clay, from which bricks could be made, 
and they had wells of bitumen, which made very good mortar. 
So their buildings were made of bricks, most of them dried 
in the sun, though some were hardened by fire. For their 
temples they built a sort of high tower or pyramid, in two 
or three terraces or stages, the temple itself standing on a 
broad platform on top. These have been washed by cen- 
turies of rain, which has turned many of their soft bricks 
back into clay, so that they now form huge and shapeless 
mounds of bricks and earth. Many of them are scattered 
over the country, looking like natural hills. But each mark 
where a city once stood, with its temples and its homes, and 
by digging deep into these clay mounds great numbers of 
interesting objects have been found. 

The Libraries of Old Chaldea. — The most interesting 
things found in these ruined cities are their libraries, about 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 45 

which you will certainly like to hear. You have read of how 
the people made tablets of clay and stamped them with 
letters and words. These tablets were flat or pillow-shaped, 
from one to twelve inches long and one inch thick. Writing 
was done on both sides, and they were paged as we page 
books, and laid on one another on the shelves of the library, 
one book sometimes covering many tablets. It is likely that 
many of the people could read and write, and every city had 
its library. People went there to read, giving the librarian 
the number of the book they wanted, or maybe they could 
take the book home, as we do from our libraries. So we 
may see that the world has not gone ahead as fast as one 
might think. 

"What their Books were about. — You will, no doubt, 
like to know what these very ancient books were about. 
Well, there was not much history in them, and so we do 
not know much about the history of the people. But there 
was a great deal about their religion, and about astrology and 
astronomy and arithmetic, all of which they studied. And 
there were accounts of the Creation, and the Garden of 
Eden, and the Tree of Life, and the Deluge, and the Tower 
of Babel, something like those in the Bible. There were 
many hymns and psalms, and there was a great epic poem, 
in twelve parts or books, made up of stories of the gods and 
heroes. Besides these there were stories in prose, and 
letters, and business accounts, and legal documents, and 
much besides. There were words at the top of each tablet 
to show what book it belonged to, just as our books have 
words at the top of the page. 

The Industries of Chaldea. — This ancient people were 
busy workers and had many useful arts. They knew how 
to work in gold and silver and other metals, and to weave 



46 ANCIENT HISTORY - 

woollen cloth and rugs, and they had smiths and carpenters 
and dyers and potters, and many other trades. They had 
much commerce, too. Caravans were sent far to the east 
and the west, and brought back useful goods of many kinds, 
while they took away the rugs and cloth and other things 
made by the people. And ships were sent to sea, to trade 
along the shores of the Persian Gulf. We read about the 
"Ships of Ur," and the Bible speaks of "the Chaldeans, 
whose cry is in the ships." But farming was the great 
work of the country, and many slaves were kept, who 
worked on the land. It is pleasant to know that they were 
well treated. There were palaces, and large and fine 
houses, but most of the people lived in mud huts and wore 
very little clothing. They did not need much, for their 
country was a warm one. 

The Assyrian Arts. — If we come now to Assyria, we 
shall find the people using sun-dried bricks in their houses 
and palaces, the same as the Babylonians. But their country 
was among the hills, and they lined the walls of their fine 
buildings with slabs of stones, and had great stone images 
of men and lions and bulls with human heads at their door- 
ways. They lived in much more style and splendor than in 
the older country. Clay tablets were used for books, and 
also stone and metal, for they had chisels with which they 
could cut the letters into these hard substances, or carve 
pictures on the walls of the palace rooms, or make huge 
stone statues of animals and men. 

The Library of Nineveh. — The library found at Nineveh 
contained fully ten thousand books. On some of the tablets 
the writing is so fine that it can be read only with the aid 
of a magnifying glass. We know that the Assyrians had 
such glasses, for one of them has been found. Most of the 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 



47 



books in this library were copied from the Babylonian ones, 
for the Assyrians thought as much of this ancient literature 
as we do of the literature of Greece and Rome, and kept 
and studied it with great care. Among them are many text- 
books for scholars, on such subjects as spelling, grammar, 
and the like. And there is much about the history of 




Restoration op an Assyrian Palace. 

Assyria, for the people of that country cared more about 
their history than the older people did. One part of the 
library held public documents, such as treaties, reports, con- 
tracts, mortgages, deeds, and other business papers, much 
like those of our own times, and even a will made by King 
Sennacherib. This is the oldest of all known wills. 

"What the Assyrians knew. — The Assyrians had many 
arts which were not known to the Babylonians. They knew 
far more about building and painting and sculpture. They 
could carve finely in ivory and on hard stones, and knew 
how to make glass, to build aqueducts, and to use the lever 



48 ANCIENT HISTORY 

and other mechanical powers. The alabaster walls of their 
palaces were painted in brilliant colors and the ceilings were 
gilded and inlaid with ivory. Their chairs and tables were 
elegant in design and of rich materials, and their houses 
were often finely ornamented. No nation of the past knew 
more about weaving and embroidering, while their vases, 
cups, etc., were beautifully made. In fact, they were far 
advanced in the arts, and knew how to live not only in 
comfort, but also in refinement and luxury. 

Science of the Babylonians. — The people of Shumer 
and Accad knew much about science. They watched and 
studied the movements of the stars, and could tell when 
eclipses of the sun and moon would come. They knew 
just the length of the year, and though their twelve months 
were each thirty days' long, they made the year come right 
by adding an extra month at the proper time. We owe to 
them our week of seven days, and the length of our hours, 
minutes, and seconds. The day ran from one sunrise to 
the next, and was made up of twelve double hours of sixty 
minutes each. All their measures were based on one 
standard, the hand-breadth, and were not nearly so confused 
and intricate as ours. In fact, we owe much more than 
many suppose to this old nation, that went on in its slow 
way for thousands of years with not much more change 
than we have now in a single century. 

SUMMARY OF BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN HISTORY. 

1. First Babylonian Kingdom founded before 5000 b.c. — Early 
Kings. 

Enshagsagana 4500 b.c. 

Lugalzaggisi . . 4000 " 

Sargon 3800 " 

Naram Sin . . 3750 " 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 



49 



UrGur ... 3000 b.c 

Dungi 1 2950 

Ur-ea (Uruch) . 2800 

Dungi II . 2750 

City of Babylon becomes important ..... 2400 
Elamite conquest of Babylonia ... ... 2286 

Khammurabi defeats the Elamites 2250 

Babylon becomes the capital of Accad . . . . . 2250 

Chaldean tribes conquer Babylonia 2000 

Chaldean dynasty 2000-1543 

Arabian dynasty 1543-1298 

Assyrian conquest ... . . 1298 



2. Assyrian Empire. 

Assyria becomes dominant .... ... . . 

Famous Kings. 

Tiglath-Pileser I 

Shalmaneser . . 

Tiglath-Pileser II 

Final conquest of Babylonia 

Sargon 

Sennacherib 

Babylon destroyed I 

Esarhaddon . 

Ashurbanipal (Sardanapalus) ...... . . 

Saracus (Sardanapalus II.) , . 

Conquest of Assyria by Media and Babylonia . 



1298 

1130 

858 
745 
728 
722 
705 
690 
681 
668 
626 
625 



Second Babylonian Kingdom — Famous Kings. 
Nabopolassar (the conqueror of Assyria) . . . 

Nebuchadnezzar 

Nabonadius 

Belshazzar 

Babylon conquered by the Persians 



625 
604 

555 
538 



CHAPTER III 



EGYPT 



Let us now turn our attention to another very old nation, 
that dwelt in the famous ancient land of Egypt. In some 
ways this is like the country you have been told about, for 

it also owes its history to 
a great river, which flows 
through its midst and 
spreads life-giving waters 
over its fertile fields. This 
river is the noble one called 
the Nile, which comes from 
far away in Central Africa 
and here flows in a splendid 
stream through a narrow 
belt of rich land, while 
deserts of sand stretch far 
away on either side. That 
narrow belt and the river 
between form what we 
know as Egypt. 

The Egyptian Race. — 
Though the Egyptians lived 
in Africa, they did not be- 
long to the African or black race, but were white people, 
and in some ways like the ancient Babylonians. Some 
scholars think they came from the Babylonian country very 

50 




Map of Egypt. 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 



51 



long ago, long enough for them to work out a language of 
their own quite different from the Semitic type of speech. 
But of all this we know very little and are not likely to know. 
The Age of Egypt. — If you ask when the people of 
Egypt became civilized and began to have a written history, 
we cannot tell you, and, in fact, nobody can. It lies too far 
back in the mists of time. The first king we know any- 




The Nile during an Inundation. 



thing about was named Menes. Many writers say he reigned 
about 2700 b.c, but there are some who think that the 
date of his reign goes back as far as 5700 b.c. Here is a 
gap of three thousand years which it is not easy to fill, but 
there is reason to think that Menes lived at a much earlier 
period than 2700 b.c Egypt may have had a long history 
before this time, though we know nothing about it. It may 
go back to the early days of Accad and Shumer. Far before 
the time of Menes there were many little city kingdoms like 
those of Babylonia. He was the first to bring them together 



52 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



into one state, and with him the known history of Egypt 
began. 

How Egypt differed from Babylonia. — There is a won- 
derful difference between Egypt and Babylonia, as Ave find 
them to-day. If we travel along the Euphrates and the Tigris 
in search of their old kingdoms we meet only with huge heaps 







Watering the Fields with the Shadoof. 

of clay and bricks, deep within which their treasures of art 
lie buried. But if we journey along the Nile we meet with 
vast stone temples and pyramids, and giant statues, and 
hundreds of graves cut deep into the solid rock. These are 
wonderful to behold, and they made Egpyt famous for its 
marvels long before we knew anything about the ruins of 
Babylonia and Assyria. We have now to tell something 
about the builders of these mighty stone monuments. 

The Kings of Egypt. — Menes is a king of shadows. 
We know very little about him. He is said to have built 
the city of Mem'phis and made it his capital and kept the 
river out of it by great dykes and other engineering works, 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 53 

After him came hundreds of kings, divided into many 
dynasties, or different royal families. But we know no 
more about the most of these kings than we do about those 
of old Babylonia. Those best known are the famous 
builders to whom we owe the pyramids and other works. 

Kufu and his Pyramid. — The greatest and most famous 
of the pyramids are the three which stand at Gizeh (Ghe'zeh) 
near the modern city of Cairo. They were built by kings of 




The Great Pyramid. 



the Fourth Dynasty, and one of these is the largest edifice 
ever built by the hand of man. It is square at the base, 
each side being 764 feet long, and slopes up to a point, the 
height being 450 feet. It was built by a king named Ku'fu, 
or, as the Greeks called him, Cheops (Ke'ops). His name 
has been found where the workmen painted it on some of 
the stones. This great work was built for a tomb, and no 
other man has ever been so grandly buried as Kufu. 

The Work of the Theban Kings. — For several centuries 
after that we know very little about the history of Egypt. 
We must go on to the Twelfth Dynasty, which came some- 
where about 2300 B.C., for anything of importance. Some of 



54 ANCIENT HISTORY 

the kings of this dynasty were powerful and ambitious. They 
changed the capital from Memphis, on the lower Nile, to 
Thebes, far up that river. This great city was called by the 
Greeks "The Hundred-gated Thebes, 11 and no doubt it was 
very large and handsome. The kings of Thebes were great 
builders. One of them built the vast Labyrinth, a building 
with three thousand chambers. Any one in the centre of 
that building might wander for months in trying to get out, 
if he did not starve in the effort. He had also a lake dug 
named Moeris (Me'ris) to carry off the extra water of the 
Nile. He filled it with fish and planted around it vine- 
yards and orchards and gardens, and made it a place of great 
beauty. 

The Shepherd. Kings. — About the year 2100 B.C. a great 
misfortune came to the old kingdom. A vast horde of 
people from the desert of Syria marched in and conquered 
Lower Egypt, which they held for nearly four hundred years. 
These are known as Hyk'sos or Shepherd Kings, and were 
rude barbarians, who did much damage to the grand monu- 
ments of the country. But in time they became civilized 
and took up the ways of the Egyptians. It was likely dur- 
ing their time that Abraham, the ancestor of the Hebrews 
or Jews, visited Egypt, and found there a line and flourishing 
country, and it was while they were there that Joseph and 
his brethren came to Egypt. The story of the Hebrews and 
the Pharaohs, as it is told in the Bible, seems to have taken 
place in a later period than that of the Hyksos. 

The New Empire. — The time came at length when the 
Hyksos kings were driven from Egypt. This was done 
about 1650 B.C., by Amo'sis, a descendant of the old kings 
of Thebes, who became the first king of the Eighteenth 
Dynasty. The old empire had passed away and what is 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 



55 



known as the New Empire now began. It was the most 
powerful and splendid period in Egyptian history. The old 
Pharaohs had been as much priests as kings, and had kept 
within the borders of their own land, their great works 
being their buildings. But the new ones set out as warriors 
and conquerors, leading powerful armies into Asia and seek- 
ing to conquer its civilized countries. 

Rameses the Great. — The most famous of these warriors 
was Ram'eses II., or Rameses the Great, called Sesos'tris by 




Head of Mummy of Rameses II. 



the Greeks. There are many stories told about the wars 
which this king carried on in Africa and Asia, and there is 
a long poem telling about some of his exploits, the whole of 
which is cut into the stone walls of several temples. His 
greatest war was against the Hit'tites, who dwelt in the 



56 ANCIENT HISTORY 

mountains of northern Syria. These proved too strong for 
him, so he made a treaty with them, and married a daughter 
of the Hittite king. 

The Great Theban Monuments. — But the Theban kings 
did not spend all their time in fighting. They were great 
builders as well. Two of them, Thoth'mes III. and Seti I., 
built the most magnificent temple in the world, whose 
majestic ruins still stand at Kar'nak, near Thebes. Seti 
also made for himself, in the Valley of the Tombs of the 
Kings, the largest and most beautiful of all rock-cut tombs. 
Another of his great works was a canal from the Nile to the 
Red Sea, which was finished by Rameses, his son. Many of 
the lofty obelisks of Egypt were also erected by these kings, 
whose reigns began about 1500 b.c. 

The Assyrian Conquest. — Rameses II. was the last great 
conqueror. Centuries passed during which the glory and 
splendor of Egypt declined. The nation at length became 
so feeble that it was conquered by the Assyrians and forced 
to pay tribute to their kings. But about 666 b.c. Psam- 
met'ichus, the first king of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, drove 
out the Assyrians and set the country free. He got Greek 
soldiers to help him in this, and this made the soldiers of 
Egypt so angry that more than two hundred thousand of 
them left the country and settled in Ethiopia, a country to 
the south. Up to that time Egypt had been kept closed 
against foreigners, but afterwards the Greeks had much to do 
there in commercial and other ways. Ne'cho, the next king, 
was an able monarch. He tried to dig out again the old 
canal of Seti and Rameses, but gave it up after more than 
one hundred thousand men had died. He also sent out a 
fleet which is said to have sailed around the Cape of Good 
Hope, and was the first to circumnavigate Africa. 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 57 

The End of Egyptian Freedom. — Egypt had now been a 
free country, governed by kings of its own race, for several 
thousand years — except for the few centuries when it was 
under the Shepherd and the Assyrian kings. For a time 
it had held an extensive empire in Asia, but its period of 
freedom was near an end. A new power invaded the old 
kingdom, the strong young empire of Persia. Camby'ses, a 
Persian king, led an army to the Nile in 525 b.c, defeated 
the army of Egpyt, and made the country his own. A 
century afterwards the Persians were driven out, but they 
came back and conquered the land again about 340 b.c. 
That was the end of the reign of the Pharaohs. Alexander 
the Great followed the Persians, and after him came the 
Romans and then the Arabs, and from that day to this no 
king of Egyptian blood has sat upon the throne. 

THE ARTS AND CULTURE OF EGYPT. 

The Land of Egypt. — Egypt is a very strange country. 
It is all length and no breadth. It consists of the Nile 
River and a narrow tract of land on each side, with the 
great sandy desert beyond. Every year for ages past the 
river has overflowed its banks and left a thick deposit of 
mud. This mud is very fertile. Immense crops of grain 
can be raised in it. Thus, in the past, millions of people 
could be fed and the banks of the mighty stream swarmed 
with busy inhabitants. It was this people, with their priests 
and rulers, their armies and artisans, that made the famous 
old kingdom of Egypt, whose history has just been given. 

The Mighty Monuments. — This ancient kingdom passed 
away long ago. The descendants of its people remain, but 
its proud princes, its splendid cities, its conquering armies 
are gone, never to return. But for all that, old Egypt lives. 



58 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



The traveller along the Nile to-day sees traces of it all 
around him. There stand the giant pyramids, which were 
likely built five or six thousand years ago. There is the 
great Sphinx, a monstrously large stone lion, with a woman's 
head, cut out of the solid rock and so large that a small 
temple stood between its paws. There are lofty obelisks, 
each of them cut out of a single stone. There are mighty 
temples, with grand columns and spacious halls. There are 




huge statues of the kings, which look as if they had been 
made by the hands of giants. There are great tombs, with 
painted chambers and avenues cut deep in the solid rock. 
You will need to read whole books to learn about them, and 
if you should see them your eyes would open wide with 
wonder, for there is nothing like them elsewhere upon the 
earth. 

Vast Labors of the People. — From this you may learn 
that the Egyptians were great builders. They tried to go 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 



59 



beyond all other peoples in the grandeur of their buildings 
and their sculptures, and the work of their hands is so vast 
and solid that it will stand to be gazed at with admiration 
for ages to come. They knew how to cut huge blocks of 
stone from their quarries, to chisel them into great slabs for 
buildings, or round them into mighty pillars, or carve them 
into vast statues. Then these were drawn hundreds of 
miles from the quarries and lifted into their places by the 
labor of hundreds of thousands of men. The proud old 




Transporting a Statue in Ancient Egypt. 

kings were cruel. They did not care if hosts of people 
perished in this terrible labor, if only they could build some- 
thing that would excite the wonder of the world for ages to 
come. 

The Artisans at "Work. — This is not all the Egyptians 
could do. They had many arts and industries in which 
they did excellent work. They knew how to weave cotton 
and linen cloth, to work in copper and brass, to make fine 
glassware and pottery, and to do many other useful things. 
Paintings in the tombs more than four thousand years old 



60 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



show us the glass-blowers at work making all kinds of 
objects, and glass bottles and many other things made 
of glass have been found. They knew how to color their 
glass beautifully and to imitate precious stones very closely. 
And in their paintings workers may be seen doing dozens 
of other things. We see the carpenter with his tools, the 
butcher sharpening his knife, the musician playing his harp, 




A Harvest Scene in Egypt. 



the fisherman throwing his lines, the farmer, the hunter, the 
worker in gold and silver, and numerous things besides. 

Reading- and 'Writing'. — Do you ask about the great art 
which is more important than all other arts, the art of 
reading and writing? This the Egyptians possessed very 
long ago, or we should know much less of their history than 
we do. They learned how to put down their thoughts in 
hieroglyphics, or picture writing, many thousands of years 
in the past, perhaps as long ago as the old Babylonian 
writing, perhaps longer. When we get so far back as that 
we know nothing about dates or years. 

How "Writing was done. — The writing of the Egyptians 
is very different from that of the Babylonians. It did not 
have to be stamped on clay, but was written on a kind of 
paper called papy'rus, made from a reed that grows along 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 



61 



the Nile. Their writing was done with a pointed reed, 
dipped in ink, so that it was somewhat like our own pen. 
In the old writings the pictures of natural objects, such as 
birds, men, buildings, etc., are carefully made. Later on 
they used simpler styles of writing, which could be done 
much faster. They wrote on many other things besides 
papyrus, such as leather, tiles, stones, and tablets of wood. 
And they cut historical and other writings with chisels on 
the stone walls of their temples and the pillars of their 
obelisks. The stone used was very hard, but they managed 
to cut it deeply with their chisels. Written rolls of papyrus 
were also buried in the tombs and the coffins of the dead, 
and many of these have been discovered in modern times. 

How the Hieroglyphics 
were read. — Now let us say 
a word more about the writ- 
ten language of the Egyp- 
tians. They wrote in words, 
not in letters. At first every 
sign stood for a word. Later 
on some of the signs stood 
for syllables, and still later 
some of them stood for letters, 
but all through many of the 
signs meant whole words. 
It was long before any one 
in modern times knew how 

to read this strange writing, but about a hundred years ago 
a stone — the Rosetta Stone — was found in Alexandria, 
Egypt, that had an inscription on it in three forms, one 
being Greek and the others two different forms of Egyptian 
writing. The Greek served as a key to the others, and 




An Egyptian Sceibe. 



62 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



in that way men of science learned how to read the hiero- 
glyphics. 

The Book of the Dead. — The writings of the Egyptians 
are very interesting in showing us what kind of people they 
were and what they thought about matters and things. 
They did not leave us great libraries like the Babylonians, 
but for all that we have many of their books and inscrip- 




Weighing the Actions of the Soul. 



tions. The most famous of them is the "Book of the 
Dead," copies of which were placed in the mummy-cases. 
It tells the soul what it must do in its journey to its future 
home, and teaches men to beware of idleness and lying and 
selfishness and other faults. There is another famous book, 
more than four thousand years old, which is full of good 
advice to the young and the old alike. We can see from 
these that the ancient Egyptians knew what was right and 
what was wrong as well as we do to-day. 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 63 

The Literature of Egypt. — The Egyptians knew some- 
thing about science, and wrote on astronomy and mathe- 
matics and medicine. They were busy letter-writers also, 
and many of their letters have been preserved. They had 
their poets, like most ancient nations, and have left us 
beautiful hymns, and one long poem, called the " Epic of 
Pentaur." This tells about the deeds of Rameses II., and 
that warlike king was so proud of it that he had it engraved 
on the walls of a number of temples. They had also works 
on history, and stories and fables and fairy-tales. One of 
these is like " Cinderella and the Glass Slipper," and some 
of their stories are interesting and amusing. No doubt they 
had much to read, for what Ave have are only a few of their 
writings. 

Ideas about the Future Life. — Of all the nations of the 
past the Egyptians were one of the most religious. They 
must have spent much of their time in worshipping the 
gods and in preparing for the future life. They believed 
that the body, as well as the soul, would live again, and they 
tried to keep the body so that it would be ready when the 
soul came to join it. Before telling how they did this, we 
must speak of their religious ideas. 

The Gods and Sacred Animals. — There were supposed 
to be many gocls, each of which had charge of some part of 
the universe or something to do on the earth. These were 
divided into groups of three, the most important group 
being Osiris, Isis his wife, and Horus their son. Certain 
animals, which were held to be emblems of the gods, were 
worshipped. The beetle was very sacred, as an emblem of 
the sun or of life. The death of a dog or a cat was 
mourned as a misfortune, and when the sacred bull, or apis, 
died, the people were in deep trouble. This animal was 



64 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



thought to be a real god, and was buried in an immense 
granite coffin, in a large chamber cut deep into the rocks. 

The Priests and Kings. — We may be sure that in a 
nation so religious as this the priests had great power. 
The king was at first as much priest as king, and all who 
came near him fell down and touched the ground with their 
noses, as though he were a god himself. They called him 
the " lord of heaven and life of the whole world," and by 
many similar titles. The priests were rich, powerful, and 




The Island of Phil^e. 



learned. All the science and learning of the land were in 
their hands. They were teachers, lawyers, and doctors, 
as well as priests. They ruled the living, and were thought 
to have the power to open and shut the gates of happiness 
to the dead. 

The Temple of Karnak. — There is one thing that shows 
the character of the Egyptians. Their great buildings were 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 65 

not palaces, as in Assyria, but temples and tombs. There 
is no more magnificent building in the world than the great 
Temple of Karnak, near Thebes. It took more than five 
hundred years to build this grand edifice. Its great feature 
is its mighty Hall of Columns, which has one hundred and 
sixty-four vast pillars, some of them being over seventy feet 
high and measuring sixty-five feet around their tops. 

The Tombs of the Kings. — Their tombs were as grand 
as their temples. The great pyramids were built as burial 
places for kings. The later kings were buried in great rock 
tombs, cut with immense labor into chambers and passages, 
and their walls painted with pictures of life in Egypt. In 
the hills back of Thebes is a place called the Valley of the 
Tombs of the Kings, where there are twenty-five splendid 
sepulchres. Here are long passages and extensive chambers, 
richly painted and sculptured. Not many years ago (in 1881) 
the mummies of Seti I., Rameses II., and many other kings 
of the New Empire were found in a secret cave near 
Thebes. They seem to have been taken from the royal 
tombs in some time of danger and hidden there. For some 
reason, after the danger passed, they were not brought back, 
and they may be seen in our day in the Boulak Museum at 
Cairo, their faces so well preserved that their old courtiers 
might well know them, if they could come back to earth to 
see them. 

How Mummies were made. — It is very likely you know 
what a mummy is, for many of them have been brought 
from Egypt to this country, and are to be seen in the mu- 
seums of the great cities. But you will wish to know how 
they were made and why this was done. Well, it was believed 
by the Egyptians that after a very long time, several thousand 
years, the soul would come back to earth and enter its former 

5 



66 ANCIENT HISTORY 

body, which would become alive again. So they tried to 
keep the body until this time. After death, the body was 
embalmed by the use of oils and resin and bitumen and 
aromatic gums. Then it was wrapped closely in bandages 
of linen. The face was sometimes gilded or covered with 
a gold mask, and the mummy was put in a w r ooden or stone 
case or coffin and laid away in a rock tomb. As for the poor 
people, who could not afford such costly methods, the bodies 
of their dead were " salted and dried," wrapped in coarse 
mats, and buried in the desert sands. As we think to-day, 
they had as good a chance in the future life as the Pharaohs 
who were buried in the pyramids. 

The Sacred Lake. — There was one important thing in the 
Egyptian burial customs. The wicked were refused burial, 
whether they were kings or peasants. This must have helped 
much to make men live a good life. Near every large city 
there was a sacred lake, over which the corpse had to be 
carried in a boat to the burial place. But near by there sat 
a court of forty-two judges, who inquired into the past life 
of the deceased. If an evil life was proved, the lake could 
not be crossed and the body had to be taken back in dis- 
grace. Only after the gods had been pacified by gifts and 
devotion and by the prayers of the priests could the body 
be buried. 

The Tribunal of Osiris. — There was supposed to be 
another court made up of gods, with Osiris at its head, and 
before this the soul was brought for trial. Here the heart 
was placed in a balance with a figure of truth in the other 
scale. If the beam turned in favor of the heart, happiness 
was the soul's lot. If the beam sank the other way, the 
unhappy soul was devoured by a frightful monster and 
ceased to exist ; or, if not very wicked, it might return to 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 67 

the earth, and pass a long life in the bodies of animals. 
This is what is called transmigration. The soul was asked 
if it had been idle or intoxicated, had told lies or revealed 
secrets, had cheated or slandered, had caused tears to fall, 
or had not given anything to charity. The Egyptians, you 
may see, had a good school of morals. 

Character of the People. — The Egyptians were not the 
grave and gloomy people we might expect in a nation that 
thought so much of death and the grave. We can tell from 
their pictures that they could laugh and joke and were very 
fond of festivals and holidays. They were polite and gentle, 




An Egyptian Pillow. 



and paid much reverence to those older and higher in rank. 
They seem to have had many feasts, and the paintings show 
them sitting before small tables, with meat, fruit, cakes, and 
other food on them, while servants put lotus-flowers on their 
heads, and dancers and musicians amused them. Their 
women were treated well, and were not such slaves as they 
are in many countries of Asia. On the whole, the Egyptians 
were a very good sort of people and very likely enjoyed life 
and passed their time pleasantly. 



68 ANCIENT HISTORY 

SUMMARY OF EGYPTIAN HISTORY. 

First Dynasty, Date variously estimated from 5700 to 2700 b.c. 

Menes, first (traditional) king. 

Kufu I. (the Great Pyramid builder), about . , 2700 b.c. 

Theban kings (Twelfth Dynasty), about . 2300 to 2100 

Hyksos or Shepherd conquest, about 2100 

Hyksos dynasty, about . 2100 to 1650 

Abraham visits Egypt, about 1900 

The Hebrews settle in Egypt, about 1700 

The Hyksos kings expelled, about 1650 

Amosis (Eighteenth Dynasty), about 1650 

The most brilliant centuries of Egyptian his- 
tory 1650 to 1280 

Thothmes III., about 1500 

Seti I., about 1400 

Rameses the Great 1388 

Menephtha (exodus of the Hebrews), about . 1300 

Assyrian conquest, about 680 

Psammeticus (drives out the Assyrians) .... 666 

Necho 612 

Persian conquest 525 

Second Persian conquest 340 

Macedonian conquest ' 332 

Reigns of the Ptolemies (Greek kings) 323-30 

Egypt becomes a Roman province on the death 

of Cleopatra 30 



CHAPTER IV 
PALESTINE AND PH(ENICIA 

The Syrian Nations. — We must now leave for a while 
the great nations and deal with some of the small ones. 
But those we shall deal with were small only in size ; in 
some ways they were greater than the famous empires 
of Assyria and Egypt, between which they lay. West of 
Assyria was a country in which there dwelt various tribes, 
and which is now known by the general name of Syria. In 
very old times the part of it which lay along the Mediterra- 
nean Sea was known as the land of Canaan. Later on it was 
inhabited by the Hebrews, the Philistines, and the Phoeni- 
cians ; while farther east was Syria, with the famous city of 
Damascus for its capital. 

The Extent of Palestine. — Any one who has read the 
Bible must know a great deal about one of these nations, 
that of the Hebrews, whose story is given in that noble 
book. Their country, known to us as Palestine, was a 
quite small one, only one hundred and forty-five miles 
long, and not more than fifty miles wide. Yet this little 
country played a great part in the world's history, and we 
know more and care more about the story of the Hebrews 
than about the mighty empires surrounding them. 

Abraham and his Descendants. — The patriarch Abra- 
ham, the ancestor of the Hebrews, came from the city of Ur 
in Babylonia about 2000 b.c. He went west with his family 
and servants to the land of Canaan, and wandered about 
from pasture to pasture, seeking food for his flocks. The 

69 



70 ANCIENT HISTORY 

book of Genesis tells about him and his descendants, and 
how one of them named Joseph became a great man in 
Egypt. This was in the time of the Shepherd kings. The 
Hebrews, as Joseph and his people were called, grew at 
length to be very numerous, and after the Shepherd kings 
were driven out of Egypt they were badly treated by the 
new kings. 

The Promised Land. — Another of the books of the 
Bible, the book of Exodus, tells how the Hebrews leit Egypt, 
led by Moses, a learned and able and very religious man. 
For many years they wandered in the deserts of Arabia, 
and then they came to the land of Canaan. Here Abraham, 
their famous ancestor, had long lived, and they read in 
their books that God had promised them this land, so they 
set out to conquer it. They had a skilful general named 
Joshua, but it took six years of hard fighting to overcome 
the Canaanites and destroy their strong walled cities. But 
in the end they became masters of the country, and 
divided it between their twelve tribes. These bore the 
names of Joseph and his brothers, who were twelve in 
number. All this happened a long time ago, as far back as 
the year 1300 b.c. 

The Judges of Israel. — We do not know very much 
about what the Hebrews were doing in the two hundred 
years that followed. Very likely the tribes did not agree 
well together, for as yet they were quite warlike. We are 
told, "There was no king in Is'rael ; every man did that 
which was right in his own eyes. 11 Israel was one of the 
names given them, but. they had no common government, 
though at times strong leaders arose who ruled all the 
land and were called judges. The last of these was the 
prophet Samuel. 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 



71 



A King given Them. — The time came at length when 
this people asked for a king. The tribes of Canaan were 
still seeking to drive them out, and the Philistines, a war- 
like people along the sea-coast, gave them much trouble. 
They wanted a king to lead them to war and make them a 
powerful nation, and Samuel, the prophet, chose them one 
named Saul, who was a strong man and a good fighter. 
For forty years Saul fought the enemies of his people, and 
when he died in battle and left the crown to David, his 
successor, the tribes had become a strong and united 
nation. 




Jerusalem. 



David the "Warrior and Poet. — David was the great 
warrior of the Israelites. The prophet Samuel had chosen 
him, as he chose Saul. Under David the new nation 
became powerful. The Philistines were conquered and the 
troublesome tribes of the desert were driven back and their 
land taken, till the country was much larger than before. 
Jerusalem was chosen for the capital city, and Jehovah was 
worshipped as the God of Israel. David was a poet as well 
as a soldier, and many of the magnificent psalms of the 
Bible are said to have been written by him. 



72 ANCIENT HISTORY 

Solomon the "Wise. — When David died his son Solomon 
took the throne. Under him the people of Israel became 
more civilized than before, and made themselves known far 
and wide. He was not a great warrior like his father, but 
he gained wide fame for wisdom, and his reign was the 
most splendid in the history of the Jews. He sent ships to 
India and Arabia, and perhaps still farther, and brought 
much gold and precious wares into the country. He built 
a splendid palace at Jerusalem, and a temple which was 
renowned for its beauty and magnificence. The celebrated 
cedar of Lebanon was used in it, and the King of Tyre sent 
his best workmen to help build it. We are told that the 
Queen of Sheba came from the south of Arabia to visit 
King Solomon, the story of whose wisdom and splendor 
had reached her. When she saw Jerusalem and heard 
Solomon's wise talk, she cried out, " The half was not told 
me." But this great king surrounded himself with luxury 
and filled his palace with wives, and turned away from the 
worship of Jehovah, and taxed the people until they were 
ready -to rebel. So perhaps he was not so very wise, after all. 

The Kingdom breaks up. — After Solomon died the splen- 
dor of his kingdom soon passed away. It is well you should 
know when this took place, and we may say that it was about 
1000 b.c, a thousand years after Abraham had left Ur, and 
a thousand before the time of Christ. Solomon's son Reho- 
bo'am was a tyrant. When the people asked to have their 
heavy taxes taken off, he said to them, in anger, " My father 
chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scor- 
pions." He was, as you may see, not only a proud but a 
foolish young king. When the people heard of his words 
ten of the tribes broke into rebellion and set up a new king- 
dom of their own. This was called the kingdom of Israel. 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 73 

Only two tribes remained under the insolent young king. 
These were called the kingdom of Judah, and their country 
was known as Judea. 

The Ten Lost Tribes. — After that the Hebrews were no 
longer a strong nation. The kingdom of Israel lasted for 
about two hundred and fifty years, and had nineteen kings 
in all, eight of whom were killed. Then Sargon, the king of 
Assyria, came and conquered the country and carried away 
all its people beyond the Euphrates. That is the last we 
know of the Ten Tribes of Israel. They have been sought 
for in later times, but no trace of them has ever been found. 
Their country was filled up with other people, who became 
known as Samar'itans. 

The Pate of Judea. — The kingdom of Judah lasted for 
about four hundred years and had many kings, all but one 
of whom descended from David. But on its two sides were 
the warlike empires of Assyria and Egypt, and this little 
country could not hope to remain independent. We have 
told you how the Assyrians overran and plundered the 
country and shut up King Hezekiah in Jerusalem " like a 
bird in a cage." In the end Nebuchadnezzar, the famous 
King of Babylon, took Jerusalem and destroyed it. The 
splendid temple of Solomon was levelled with the ground, 
and the people were carried off to Babylonia. That was a 
way those old emperors had of dealing with rebellious 
nations. They took the people away to their own country 
and left nobody to rebel. 

The Hebrews in Exile. — It was now the year 586 b.c. 
The existence of the Hebrews as an independent nation 
was at an end, except for a short time long afterwards. The 
empires around were growing too great for a small land like 
that to be left in freedom. The people of Judea were kept 



74 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



in the land of Babylon about seventy years, but were not 
badly treated. Then Cyrus, the great Persian king, con- 
quered Babylon and let them go home again and build up 
their city and their temple. 




The Lake op Galilee. 



The End of the Hebrew Nation. — After that the Jews or 
Hebrews were a part of several empires, first the Persian, 
then the Macedonian, then the Roman. In 165 b.c. a gen- 
eral named Judas Maccabe'us led them to victory, and they 
were free for half a century or more. But Pompey, a Roman 
genera], conquered them, and brought them into the empire 
of Rome. After this Christ lived on the earth and a world- 
religion was given to the Jews, to be taught by them to the 
other nations. But, seventy years afterwards, they broke 
into rebellion and the Roman general Titus was sent to 
subdue them. They fought like lions for their liberty and 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 75 

their religion, but in the end Jerusalem was taken and de- 
stroyed and vast numbers of the people were killed. The 
remainder were driven out of the country, and thus the old 
kingdom of Judea came to a final end. 



HEBREW RELIGION AND LITERATURE. 

The Record of the Hebrews. — The Hebrews had few of 
the arts of the surrounding nations. They were an agricul- 
tural people, and knew little about the arts of building or 
manufacture or about the sciences. They made no statues, 






The Mount of Olives. 



for their religion forbade the making of "graven images.'" 
Solomon had to borrow workmen from the king of Tyre to 
build his temple, and sailors for his ships. But for all this 
the Hebrews made their mark in the world in a wonderful 
way, for they left us the noblest religious literature of the 
world, and the religion of all the enlightened nations of mod- 
ern times came from them. 

The One Great God. — While the nations surrounding 
Palestine had numbers of gods, — gods of the earth, the air, 



76 ANCIENT HISTORY 

the water, the sun, moon, and stars, and of many things 
besides, — the Hebrews had but one deity, the great Jehovah. 
They looked on Him as their special God, but in time He 
grew to be the God of the civilized world. There were 
many idolaters among them ; even some of their kings wor- 
shipped the idols of the nations round about ; but after they 
came back from Babylon they clung more ^closely to their 
old faith, which was taught them by many famous prophets. 
At length, after long years, there came to them Christ, the 
Great Teacher, and out of their old religion grew the noble 
Christian faith, which has had so much to do with the 
civilization of the modern world. 

The Noble Literature of the Bible. — The Hebrews had 
many able writers. We have the best of their writings in 
the Holy Bible, though they wrote much that has perished. 
Some of their religious writings which were not put in the 
Bible are known as the Apoc'rypha, and there is a large col- 
lection of other writings called the Tal'mud. But it is in the 
Old and the New Testament that we find their noblest litera- 
ture. Those ancient writings contain the works of the 
prophets and priests and poets of the Hebrews. We find in 
them the highly interesting story of the patriarchs and the 
history of the Hebrew nation. Also they contain the splen- 
did poems of David and other poets, and the grand writings 
of the prophets. And the New Testament, which is written 
in Greek, was the work of the Hebrews, and is the most pre- 
cious of all their works. So, long after the glory of Assyria 
and Egypt passed away, that of the Hebrews remained. 

THE ARTS AND THE HISTORY OF PHOENICIA. 

The Phoenician Country. — On the shore of the Medi- 
terranean Sea, just north of Palestine, there was another 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 77 

small country which became famous in the past. This 
country, whose name was Phoenicia (Fe-nish'e-a), was little 
more than a long strip of land between the mountains of 
Leb'anon and the sea. Its people could not live well on 
the produce of the land, so they lived on that of the sea, 
for they became the greatest sailors and trading people of 
the far past. 

Phoenicia and its Cities. — It is thought that this people 
came from the shores of the Persian Gulf, near ancient 
Chaldea, four thousand or more years ago. We know that 
as early as 1500 b.c. they had their ships on the Medi- 
terranean. Phoenicia was hardly a country, but only a 
number of cities, each of which was a little state of its own. 
Of these the most famous were Tyre and Sidon. Tyre was 
built on a small island off the shore, and was a famous mart 
of commerce long after Sidon had lost its importance. 
Where these cities stood there are now miserable little 
Turkish towns, but at one time they were the greatest com- 
mercial cities on the earth, with splendid harbors, full of 
ships, whose bold captains cared little for all the dangers 
of the seas, and sailed where no other mariners dared 
to go. 

Tyre the Famous. — Sidon was the oldest great city of 
the land, and was a flourishing place till about 1050 b.c, 
when Tyre became the richest and most powerful city. 
Tyre was built at first on the sea-coast, but afterwards on an 
island a mile long and a mile from the shore. The city 
covered the whole island, and grew to be of wonderful 
beauty and grandeur and one of the richest cities in the 
world. It had two large and fine harbors for its ships, and 
a strong wall one hundred and fifty feet high went round 
the entire island to keep out its enemies. 



78 ANCIENT HISTORY 

The Ships of Tyre. — The ships of Tyre went to all 
quarters of the knqwn earth. They sailed to every part of 
the Mediterranean Sea and far along the shores of the 
Atlantic Ocean, and brought back tin and copper from the 
British Islands and amber from the Baltic Sea and gold from 
Ophir in Africa, and the merchants of the city became as 
wealthy 'as princes. When Solomon wanted sailors for his 
ships, he got them from Tyre, and when Necho, King of Egypt, 
sent a fleet round Africa, it was Phoenician ships he used. 
No other sailors in that day would have had the daring and 
skill for such a great voyage as that. 

The Colonies and Artisans of Phoenicia. — Phoenicia 
was also the first country to plant colonies. All along the 




Wells at Site of Carthage. 

coast of the Mediterranean its daughter cities arose, the 
greatest of them being Carthage, a famous city whose story 
we have yet to tell. The people were also fine artisans and 
mechanics, being very skilful workers in gold, silver, ivory, 
and bronze. The embroidery and the glassware of Sidon 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 79 

were the finest known in those days, and the Tyrian purple, 
a rich dye obtained from a species of shell-fish, was so 
costly and beautiful that in Rome only the emperors were 
allowed to use it. It was looked upon as a color too 
splendid for any but kings to wear. 

The Origin of the Alphabet. — One of the most valuable 
gifts that Phoenicia gave to the world was the alphabet. 
Before that time men had only the picture writing of Egypt 
and Babylonia, in which the signs stood for words or syl- 
lables. These countries had signs for letters, too, but they 
made little use of them. What the Phoenicians did was to 
give the world an alphabet of letters. It was this alphabet 
which a Phoenician named Cad'mus is said to have brought 
to Greece. From Greece it has come down to all modern 
civilized lands and has become one of the great aids to civili- 
zation. Where the Phoenicians got this alphabet we do not 
know, for they traded both with Babylonia and Egypt and 
might have got it from one or the other. Most writers think 
that they got it from Egypt, where alphabetic symbols were 
in use to some extent. 

The Kings of Phoenicia. — Now we must say something 
about the history of Phoenicia, aside from what it did with 
its ships at sea and what its merchants and artisans did 
at home. Each city had its king, but it is likely that the 
people had much freedom. If their kings used them badly, 
all they had to do was to sail away in their ships and build 
new cities of their own far away. The best known of their 
kings was Hiram of Tyre, who was a friend of King Solomon, 
and lent him workmen for his temple and sailors for his 
ships. 

A Skilful Man of Tyre. — In the Bible we read that 
King Hiram sent to Solomon a " man of Tyre, skilful to 



80 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



work in gold and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in 
timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen ; also to grave 
any manner of graving and to find out every device that 
shall be put to him." To us this seems too much for one 
man to be skilled in, and we know that a number of men 
were sent with cedar and pine from Lebanon and with stone 
cut for building. 




A Phoenician War Galley. 



The Phoenicians not "Warlike. — The Phoenicians were 
not fond of war. They had the empire of the sea, and did 
not care for that of the land. And their ships brought them 
in so much riches that they did not try to get more by robbing 
other cities. But the great kings near by would not let 
them dwell in peace. They knew how rich these cities were, 
and wished to rob them of the wealth they had won in com- 
merce. I cannot say that it was all got honestly, for some of 
the sea captains of Phoenicia were no "better than pirates, 
stealing not only the goods of distant countries, but carry- 
ing off their people to be sold as slaves. 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 81 

The Conquest of Phoenicia. — About 850 B.C. the Phoeni- 
cians lost their liberty, their country being conquered by the 
Assyrians. In 608 b.c it fell under the power of Egypt, 
and soon after was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar of Baby- 
lon. Eight years afterwards Tyre declared itself free and 
was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar. It took him thirteen 
years to subdue it. He could not easily win it by starving 
the people, as has so often been done with other cities, for 
its ships brought it in food and stores. When Babylon fell, 
Persia became the master of the Phoenician cities. In 351 
b.c. Sidon rebelled, and when the Persians attacked the city 
its citizens set it on fire and burned it to the ground. After- 
wards it was rebuilt, but its days of greatness were over, and 
where it once stood to-day we find the small town of Saida. 

The Later History of Tyre. — In 332 b.c Alexander the 
Great attacked and took both cities. Tyre fought hard for 
its liberty, and it took him seven months to capture it. He 
did so by building a great mole, or causeway of earth, from 
the shore to the island. He left the city a ruin, and Tyre 
never became great again. In later years the Greeks became 
active merchants, and took from it the empire of the sea. 
It was held by the Romans and later by the Arabs, from 
whom it was taken by the Crusaders. To-day it is a small 
Turkish town, and the island is now part of the mainland, 
for the causeway built by Alexander has spread into a broad 
isthmus joining the island to the shore. 

SUMMARY OF HEEREW HISTORY. 

Migration of Abraham 1900 b.c. 

The exodus 1300 " 

Establishment of the monarch j under Saul . . . 1095 " 

David 1055 " 

6 



82 ANCIENT HISTORY 

Solomon 1015 b.c 

Division into the kingdoms of Judah and Israel . 975 

Captivity of the Israelites 721 

Capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar .... 586 

The Babylonish captivity 586-536 

Return of the Jews 536 

Subjugation of Judea by Alexander .... . . 332 

Revolt under the Maccabees 165 

Absorption by Rome 63 



CHAPTER V 
MEDIA AND PERSIA 

The Aryan Race. — In the introduction you were told 
about the races of mankind from whom came the historical 
nations. Those you have so far read about were the Semites 
of Asia and the Hamites of Africa. Now we come to the 
story of the first great Aryan nation. Aryan is a Persian 
word which means " noble," but noble as the Aryans 
thought themselves, their civilization began at a late date. 

The Land of Iran. — East of the lowlands of Babylonia 
and Assyria there is a great elevated region, filled with 
mountains and high valleys. This region was known in old 
times as Iran, and was peopled by barbarian tribes. They 
came from a land still farther east and settled in Iran, where 
they fed their cattle and sheep in the mountain valleys, and 
in time built towns and cities. The tribes of the south were 
called Persians, and those of the northeast, near the Caspian 
Sea, were called Medes, but they did not differ except in 
name. 

The Rise of Media. — Though these people dwelt near 
the great civilized nations of the lowlands, they were slow 
in becoming civilized themselves. Nearly the first we know 
about them is in 830 B.C., when Me'dia was conquered by 
the Assyrians. About a century later the great King Sargon 
banished the ten tribes of Israel into a part of their 
territory. No doubt the Medes learned much from the 
Assyrians. They did not learn how to fight, for they knew 
that already, but they learned much about the art of gov- 

83 



84 ANCIENT HISTORY 

ernment, and the wandering tribes became an organized 
nation, with a king and nobles. Persia also had a king, 
but the Medes were at first the leading people of Iran. 

The Medes conquer Assyria. — The first great event in 
the history of this people came in 633 b.c, when they 
invaded Assyria and made an attack on Nineveh, but were 
driven back with heavy loss. Some twenty-seven years 
later they came again, under Cyax'ares, their first great king. 
We have already told how he made an alliance with the 
King of Babylon ; took and burned Nineveh ; and destroyed 
the great Assyrian Empire, which had ruled western Asia for 
centuries. Media took the north and Babylon the south of 
this empire, and Cyaxares set out on a career of conquest, 
leading his armies far into Asia Minor and to the country of 
the Lyd'ians, a strong nation of that region. It is said that 
an eclipse of the sun came on when the armies were about 
to fight and scared the kings so that they became friends. 

The Birth of Cyrus. — The next king of Media Avas named 
Asty'ages. He was not warlike, and made treaties of peace 
with Babylon and Lydia. The Persian king acknowledged 
him as master and paid him tribute. Astyages gave his 
daughter in marriage to this king, and they had a son named 
Cy'rus. This son was to become one of the great kings 
and conquerors of ancient times. 

A Princely Hostage. — About all we know of the early 
life of Cyrus is that his grandfather, King Astyages, kept hjm 
as a sort of hostage at the court of Media. He could not 
leave there without permission. This was done for fear 
Persia might rebel against the authority of the Median king. 
But some Greek writers tell us a good deal more about 
Cyrus. What they tell is all fable, but it used to be thought 
true, and you may like to hear it. 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 85 

A Legend about Cyrus. — The story is that Astyages had 
a dream in which he was told that his daughter's son would 
conquer all Asia. Fearing for his own kingdom, he de- 
termined to get rid of this dangerous infant, and gave him 
to Har'pagus, one of his courtiers, to kill. Harpagus did 
not like to kill the poor little child, so he gave it to a herds- 
man, who promised to leave it on the mountains to die. 
But instead of this, the good man showed Harpagus the 
body of his own son, who had just died, and brought up 
little Cyrus in his cabin as his son. When he grew up Cyrus 
showed himself the master among his playfellows and beat 
them at his will. One of them, the son of a nobleman, 
complained of this to the king, and Cyrus was brought 
before him. Astyages knew him by his features. The 
savage old king took a terrible revenge on Harpagus for 
not doing as he was told. He invited him to a dinner, and 
after the courtier had eaten of the meat, Astyages told him 
it was the flesh of his own son, whom he had killed and 
cooked. Cyrus was sent to his father, but when he grew 
up, Harpagus, eager for revenge on the king, sent him word 
that Media was weak and that now was the time to invade 
and conquer it. 

Cyrus subdues Media. — This is one of the stories which 
grow up about great conquerors. I have told you another 
one about Sargon, the old Babylonian king. Neither of 
them is likely to be true, but what we do know is that Cyrus 
grew up to be bold and warlike, and marched into Media 
with a large army. Media was conquered ; Astyages lost 
his throne, and Cyrus became king of Persia and Media. 

The Empire of Cyrus the Great. — Cyrus was one of the 
ablest warriors of ancient times. His people were bold 
and warlike, and he led them to victory until he built up 



86 ANCIENT HISTORY 

the greatest empire the world had known to that period. 
He conquered all the country to the east as far as the river 
Indus in northern India, and to the west as far as the 
borders of Greece, and was lord of all the land from the 
Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf. He became known as 
Cyrus the Great. It must have been a dreadful shock to 
the nations of that time to find this mountain people, whose 
name some of them had never heard, rushing out like a 
great tornado to east and west, until nearly all southern 
Asia lay under their rule. 

The Capture of Babylon. — We have already told you 
how Cyrus took the old city of Babylon and made himself 
master of the oldest of nations. The story goes that he dug 
canals and carried away all the water of the Euphrates 
River, which ran through the city, and so led his army in 
along the river bed. This is another Greek fable. The 
truth seems to be that the gates were left unguarded while a 
drunken festival was going on in the city, and that the Per- 
sians captured them and made their way in. The Bible 
tells us a thrilling story of this festival, describing a terrible 
handwriting which appeared in letters of fire on the palace 
wall, its tale of ruin and disaster being read by the prophet 
Daniel. 

Croesus, the Lydian King. — Now let us go farther west, 
to Asia Minor, where at that time there were three strong 
kingdoms, Phry'gia, Cili'cia and Lyd'ia. Of these, Lydia 
was the strongest and most civilized. It was a fertile land, 
and its river sands yielded an abundance of gold. Its king 
at that time was Croesus (Kre'sus), who had captured several 
Greek cities and got so much gold in tribute and from his 
mines that he was the richest monarch of his times. "Rich 
as Croesus" came to be a proverb in ancient Greece. 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 87 

Solon and Croesus. — But Croesus went to war with Cyrus, 
the Persian, and his greatness soon disappeared. His armies 
were beaten, his capital Sar'dis was taken, and his great 
wealth fell into Persian hands. He was taken prisoner, and 
the story goes that Cyrus was going to burn him alive on a 
funeral pyre. Years before that a wise Greek named Solon 
had visited Croesus, who boasted to him of his wealth' and 
happiness. Solon answered, "Count no man happy until 
he is dead." Croesus remembered this now that he was 
about to be burnt alive, and he called out, in his despair, 
"Solon! Solon!" Cyrus asked what he meant by this, 
and was told. The legend tells that the Persian was so 
much struck by the story that he set his captive free and 
ever after treated him with much kindness. 

Cambyses in Egypt. — Cyrus won his great empire in 
thirty years of war, and then was killed while fighting some 
of the wild tribes of the north. He is said to have been a 
noble, generous, and kindly man, despite his great fondness 
for war. His son Camby'ses succeeded him. This king 
was cruel and despotic, and began his reign by murdering 
his brother. Then he set out to add some more of the 
world to the Persian Empire, and marched his army into 
Egypt. He conquered this country in a single battle. It is 
said that he defeated the Egyptians by placing cats, dogs, and 
other of their sacred animals before his army. But all we 
know is that he took possession of Memphis and Thebes and 
sent an army of fifty thousand men to capture the temple of 
Am'mon, on an oasis in the desert. Not a man of these 
was ever seen again, and it is thought they were buried in 
one of the fatal sand-storms of the desert, called simoons. 
Then he tried to march to Ethiopa through another desert, 
but had to turn back, as all his army was in danger of dying 



88 ANCIENT HISTORY 

from thirst and starvation. On his way home Cambyses 
died of a wound from his own sword. There was then a 
rebellion in Persia, and the rebels had put a new king on 
the throne, who they said was Smer'dis, the brother whom 
Cambyses had killed, and some think that he committed 
suicide when he heard of this. 

The Great King- Darius. — At any rate, the weak Cam- 
byses made room for the greatest of the Persian kings. This 
was Dari'us, the son of a Persian noble, who helped put 
down the false Smerdis. The new monarch soon showed 
himself an able soldier and a great statesman. He put a 
quick end to all the rebellions in the empire, and built him- 
self splendid palaces at Su'sa and Persep'olis. He had 
post-roads made through the empire for rapid travel, had 
gold and silver money coined, ordered important changes in 
the government, and then set out on a career of conquest. 

The "Wars of Darius. — His first great expedition was to 
India, where he conquered a district that was rich in gold. 
Then he marched several thousand miles to the west, crossed 
the Bos'porus into Europe on a bridge of boats, and fought 
with the wild Scy'thian tribes in what is now Southern 
Russia. Next the Greek cities of Asia Minor broke into 
rebellion and he marched there and conquered them. Sardis, 
the old capital of Croesus, was taken and burned, and the 
people were treated with much severity. Darius afterwards 
invaded the rocky little country of Greece, which had helped 
the cities of Asia Minor, but there he met with a serious 
defeat. The story of this will be told when we come to 
the history of Greece. This defeat made Darius very angry 
and revengeful, but while he was gathering soldiers for a 
new expedition to Greece, he suddenly died. His death took 
place in the year 486 b.c. 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 89 

Primitive Ideas of Government. — We have said that 
Darius was an able statesman and made important changes 
in the Persian system of government. It is well you should 
know what he did. You should bear in mind that govern- 
ment is a science, and has to be learned like every other 
science. In the first civilized countries each king ruled over 
a city and the small tract of country around it. Then some 
rulers conquered a number of cities and formed larger king- 
doms. But they did not know how to organize them, and 
their kingdoms soon fell asunder, so that the city-states 
lasted long. But in time these small kingdoms grew into 
the great empires of Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt. These 
were still harder to keep together. The kings of conquered 
countries were left on the throne, and they often rebelled 
and had to be conquered again, so that the kings and armies 
were kept busy. To prevent this, in some cases all the 
people were taken from the country and new people put 
there who could be trusted. It was for this reason that the 
people of Israel and Judea were carried away and put where 
they could not rebel. 

The Satraps of Persia. — What Darius did was to remove 
the kings of conquered countries, and put in their places gov- 
ernors of his own. The Assyrians had done this in some 
cases, but he divided the whole empire up into twenty or 
more provinces, called satrapies, over each of which he 
placed a governor called a sa'trap. He made each province 
pay him a certain income, and he had a close watch kept on 
the satraps, so that they could not rebel. In consequence 
the whole great empire was firmly joined together, which 
had not been the case in any of the older empires. 

The "Weak King- Xerxes. — The son of Darius was named 
Xerxes (Zerx'es). He was a weak man, fonder of palace 



90 



ANCIENT HISTORY 




Gateway to Palace of Xerxes. (Restored.) 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 91 

pleasures than of camp life. But he tried to carry out his 

father's plans, and sent armies to put down rebellions in 

Egypt and Babylonia. Then he gathered a mighty host for 

the conquest of Greece. But he met with severe defeats 

and thought it best to let the Greeks alone. The story of 

what he did will come in best under the history of Greece, 

and all that need be told here is the story of how Xerxes, 

after the wild waters had broken down his bridge of boats, 

ordered the sea to be whipped and iron fetters to be cast 

into it, as if to punish it for its bad conduct. A man who 

would do such a foolish thing as that could not hope to win 

victories, and even in his own palace he was not more 

fortunate, for he was killed in his own chamber by some of 

the palace people. 

The Fall of the Empire. — Artaxerx'es, the son of Xerxes, 

was forced to make peace with the Greeks, after the war had 

continued for about fifty years. This was in 449 b.c. The 

Persian Empire lasted a little more than a century after that, 

and then, in 334 b.c, it was conquered by Alexander the 

Great, King of Macedonia. How this was done will be told 

later. 

CIVILIZATION IN PERSIA. 

Persian Barbarism. — The Persians never became a people 
of high civilization. How long they dwelt close to the old 
civilizations of the Euphrates and Tigris we know not, but 
their rise to empire was sudden and much of their old tribal 
barbarism clung to them to the end. They accepted the 
luxury and enervating habits of their neighbors more readily 
than their arts, science, and literary activity. 

Boys educated for Soldiers. — The Persians educated 
their sons to be soldiers, not to be scholars or workers. 
Their training began when they were five years old. They 



92 ANCIENT HISTORY 

had to rise early and practise in running, slinging stones, 
shooting with the bow, and throwing the javelin. They 
were obliged to make long journeys in all sorts of weather, 
sleeping on the ground ; and were taught to endure hunger, 
sometimes being given only one meal in two days. That 
was pretty hard training. They became daring riders, too, 
and learned to jump off and on a horse and to shoot with 
the bow when at full gallop. When fifteen years old they 
became soldiers. 

Other Education. — As for books, they knew nothing 
about them. Even the king could not read or sign his 
name, and could only make his mark with a seal. There 
were scribes who did all the writing, and the Persians had 
only one important book, their great religious work, the 
"Zend Avesta." They cared nothing for study and knew 
nothing of science, and they had no libraries like the 
Babylonians. But there was one fine thing in their educa- 
tion. Every boy was taught to speak the truth. When 
they grew up they did not forget this, but were always 
truthful and hated nothing more than falsehood and liars. 

The Persian "Writing- and Inscriptions. — Very likely the 
writing of the Persians was borrowed from the Assyrians, 
for they used the cuneiform letters, though they did not write 
on clay tablets, but on skins prepared for writing, a sort of 
parchment. All the Persian writing found to-day is cut on 
stone, either on the rocks or on buildings and vases, and on 
cylinders used as seals. Like the Egyptians and other people 
of that time, they tried to do great things in order to make 
the world wonder, so when King Darius wished to give the 
future an account of his exploits, he had it carved on the 
face of a great cliff seventeen hundred feet high, at a place 
called Behis'tun. This was smoothed off and a long inscrip- 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 93 

tion cut on it in three languages, — the Persian, the Median, 
and the Assyrian. Then it was covered with a glassy varnish 
which kept it in good condition. This work is of great value 
for another reason. I have told you how the Rosetta Stone, 
with its inscriptions in Greek and Egyptian, taught learned 



Kh -s-ya-a-r-s-a . Kh - s - a - ya -ih - i - ya . Va- za . r - 
ka . Kh - s - a - ya -tli - i - ya . Kh - s - a - ya - th - 1 - ya - a- 



z< firrfjTV*? tttBW- TE<-«nT<V «TT«ffrK- T<T 

-n -a-m.D-a-ra-ya- va-h-u-s . Kh - s - a - ya - tn- 



- i - ya - h - ya -& . p - u - tra . Ha - kh - a - ma -n - i - s - i - ya . 



A Persian Cuneiform Inscription. 

men how to read the hieroglyphics of Egypt. So the inscrip- 
tion made by King Darius was the key to the language of 
Assyria and Babylonia. The Persian language was known, 
and it led the way to reading the Assyrian, and that led to 
the Babylonian, and it was in this way men learned to read 
the books of Nineveh and Nippur. 

Lack of Trade and Manufacture. — The Persians had of 
old been shepherd tribes. When they settled down they 
cultivated the soil, but they never cared for trade and com- 
merce, and the rich boasted that they neither bought nor 
sold. They had no manufactures worth speaking of, no 
pottery or metal-work, or the like. They did not have to 
toil, they said, for they could get all they wanted by war. 
The nations they conquered supplied them with linens and 
muslins and carpets and metal-work, and dozens of other 
things made from Egypt to India. 



94 ANCIENT HISTORY 

The Worship of Fire. — The Persians were a very religious 
people. Their great god, named Or'mazd, was the god of 
sun, fire, and light. They had their fire-altars, on which a 
sacred flame was kept always burning, guarded by the 
priests. From this they were called fire-worshippers. Their 
religious customs were very simple, and they did not build 
great temples, like the other nations. Their altars were out 
of doors, often on lonely mountain-tops, so that the holy 
flame could be seen from far off. 

The Great Palace Platform. — Their great buildings were 
palaces for the kings instead of temples for the gods. There 
were no more splendid palaces at Nineveh and Babylon than 
those built by the Persians at their royal cities of Susa and 
Persepolis, but it is likely they did not find architects and 
workmen at home, but got them from the conquered nations. 
They built their palaces on high platforms, as at Babylon, 
but instead of bricks they made these platforms of great 
blocks of stone, cut to shape and fastened together with iron 
clamps. There were splendid staircases leading up to the 
terraces, wide enough for ten horsemen to ride abreast. 
The great terrace or platform at Persepolis may still be seen 
by travellers, and is one of the wonders of the ancient world. 
It is about fifteen hundred feet long, one thousand feet wide, 
and forty feet high, with its grand stone stairways still in 
good condition. 

The Persian Palaces. — On this broad space the kings 
built their palaces, and the ruins of these are still to be seen. 
There are walls, pillars, and huge doorways, and at the 
palace entrances are mighty winged bulls, like those found at 
Nineveh. Never were more splendid palaces than those of 
the proud Persian kings. They were elegant in form, costly 
in material, and rich in coloring, and were made beautiful by 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 95 

■\- '■"' '< .'"<*• ■:■■ 




96 ANCIENT HISTORY 

a multitude of graceful columns, over sixty feet high, and 
richly carved at top and bottom. Between these were mag- 
nificent hangings of rich colored draperies. The floors were 
of variegated marble, covered with rich carpets, the walls 
covered with plates of gold and silver, and over the royal 
bed was a golden vine bearing heavy bunches of grapes, of 
which every grape was a precious stone of great value. You 
may see from all this *that they cared more for show than they 
did for art. It is doubtful if the king slept any sounder for 
his golden vine and precious grapes. 

The Persian Luxury and. Corruption. — All this splendor 
and wealth did not prove for the good of the Persians. 
Their old warlike spirit and energy left them, and they fell 
into luxury and extravagant pleasures. It was this that 
caused the ruin of the Medes, as it afterwards did of the 
Persians. It made them soft and effeminate, and they 
became weak and corrupt. In old times they had eaten but 
one meal a day and drank only water. They kept their one 
meal still, but now it lasted all day long, and wine took the 
place of water. Drunkenness became so common that it 
was looked on as a sort of duty. Even the king got drunk. 
Everything about their dress and their houses grew costly 
and extravagant, and the rich kept hosts of servants, each 
with only one thing to do. These were only a few of the 
follies they fell into, and we cannot wonder that the Persian 
empire was easily overthrown when it had the hardy Greeks 
to fight with. The people were ruined by their sudden rise 
from the simple customs of barbarism into the luxury of 
civilization. » 

Ancient Methods of "War. — We have told you some- 
thing about the Persians in peace ; now let us say something 
about them and the other ancient nations in war. War in 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 97 

those days, you must remember, was very different from 
what it is in our times. There were no guns nor cannons, 
for gunpowder was not known until long afterwards. Fight- 
ing was done face to face and hand to hand, with swords and 
lances and battle-axes. For distant fighting they had only the 
bow and arrow, the sling, and the javelin. The Persian, like 
the Assyrian, carried a shield of wicker-work, almost large 
enough to cover him. Some of the soldiers wore coats of 
mail, like the Assyrians, or of quilted linen, like the Egyptians. 
The heavy cavalry wore strong coats of metal armor, but 
the light horsemen had less weight of metal on them and 
were very quick in their movements. 

Ancient War Chariots. — The armies of Egypt and Assyria 
made much use of war chariots, but the Persians did not 
care for them except for their kings. When they did use 
chariots, there were sharp scythes standing out from the 
wheels, to cut down their foes as they drove through their 
ranks. But these did not do much damage, for their horses 
and drivers were often killed by the arrows of the enemy 
and the chariots stopped before they could reach the fighting 
line. The Egyptians and Assyrians made much use of bat- 
tering-rams and ladders and siege towers when attacking 
walled cities, but the Persians did not seem to care for these. 
But they sometimes tried to frighten the enemy with ele- 
phants, and when Cyrus fought with Croesus he won the 
battle by using a number of camels, which scared the horses 
of the Lydians. 

The Persian Army. — Some of the armies of the old 
times were immense, and great hosts were slain in battle. 
The Persians sometimes had a million men in service. 
These were brought from all parts of the empire, and were 
armed and dressed in a great variety of ways. Each tribe 

7 



98 ANCIENT HISTORY 

came wearing the dress and bearing the weapons of its own 
nation. There was little organization, and if the line of 
battle was once broken there was apt to be a wild flight, 
with the general often leading the way. An army like this 
could not stand well before the Greeks, with their compact 
ranks and fine organization, and a few thousand Greeks did 
not hesitate to meet a myriad of Persians, and usually put 
them to flight. 

SUMMARY OF MEDIAN AND PERSIAN HISTORY. 

Cyaxares, King of Media, allied with Rabylonia, over- 
throws Assyria 625 b.c. 

Cyrus, a Persian Prince, defeats Astyages, King of 

Media, and founds the Persian Empire .... 558 " 

Cyrus subdues Western Asia; captures Babylon . . 538 " 

Cambyses conquers Egypt 525 " 

Darius I. wins the throne 522 " 

Darius invades India, Scythia, and Greece . . 514-486 " 

The Persians defeated at Marathon 490 " 

Xerxes I. invades Greece and is defeated 480 " 

Darius III. (last King of old Persian Empire) . . . 336 " 

Alexander the Great conquers Persia 329 " 

New Persian Monarchy , . 226-641 a.d 



CHAPTER VI 
CHINA 

The Great Current of History. — The study of history 
leads us to some points of much interest. Here we see it 
flowing down through time like a great river, which grows 
and spreads until it swells into a vast lake or is lost in the 
open sea; there it is like a still pool, which sends no waters 
to the central stream. We may look on early Egypt and 
Babylonia as the springs in which the mighty river of history 
rose, thence to flow downward through Assyria, Persia, and 
Palestine, and onward to Greece, Rome, and modern Europe, 
finally spreading out to cover the world of civilization. And 
we may also perceive separate lakes of history, which have 
sent no waters to the main stream. 

Nations Outside the Current. — This is an illustration 
only, intended to call to your attention the story of two 
ancient lands, India and China, which have existed as 
civilized nations for thousands of years, yet have not helped 
to swell the broad flood of history. They have stood apart, 
like isolated lakes, and if they had never appeared at all 
history would have gone on very much the same without 
them. For this reason the story of their career is of no 
high importance, though we must say something about it 
before we launch our boat again on the main stream of 
history. 

Character of the Chinese. — Let us begin with the story 
of China,, which is one of the most ancient countries of the 

99 

L.ofC. 



100 ANCIENT HISTORY 

earth, and which is still going on to-day with very little 
change from what it was two or three thousand years ago. 
While the world elsewhere has been sweeping on, it has 
nearly stood still. The Chinese are very proud and vain of 
their old things and want nothing better. They think that 
no other people come up to them in wisdom, and if left 
alone they might go on forever without change. But, as 
most of you may know, the outside world is stirring up old 
China nowadays and making it take up new things whether 
it wants them or not. 

The Beginning- of China. — How old China is nobody 
very well knows. Its history goes back about five thousand 
years and perhaps more. To-day it is the most crowded 
nation on the globe, but it began with a few wandering peo- 
ple, who had no houses or fire and little clothing, and who 
lived on roots and insects, or such animals as they could 
kill. At least, this is what the Chinese tell of themselves, 
but it may be far from true. They came from some place 
far away. Some think it was south of the Caspian Sea, or 
that they might have come as a colony from the old people 
of Babylonia, for there are some points of likeness between 
the ancient language of Accad and Shumer and that of 
China. If that is the case, they form a side branch from the 
main stream of history. 

The Early Arts and Discoveries. — Wherever they came 
from, they got at length to the banks of the Hoang-ho, or 
Yellow River, of China, and there began to plant grain in 
the fertile soil and to fight the older people of the country, 
who very likely were savages. The new-comers brought 
some civilized arts with them. The Chinese possessed a 
kind of hieroglyphic writing, like that of Babylonia and 
Egypt, which they may have had at that time or may have 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 101 

learned later. They studied the stars and learned some- 
thing about them. They also knew how to get silk from 
the silk- worm and to make linen from flax, and they became 
traders as well as farmers. But all this came slowly and 
after many years. 

Steps of Progress. — The ancient writers of China tell 
us a good deal about their early chiefs, but it may well be 
that most of this is fiction. One of the people learned how 
to make fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together and 
another how to keep account of things by tying knots in cords. 
One discovered iron and another invented the plough. It was 
a woman who learned how to reel silk from the cocoon of the 
silk-worm and weave it into cloth for clothing. And they 
kept on fighting the natives and spreading out wider through 
the land. But it was slow work. As late as 250 B.C., when 
they had been there some three thousand years, China was 
a very small country to what it is now. The old natives of 
the land fought fiercely and were hard to conquer. 

A Famous Teacher. — In the year 551 B.C. was born the 
greatest and wisest Chinaman that ever lived. He was not 
a king or a nobleman, but began life poor, and made his 
way by becoming a famous teacher and writer and an 
adviser of kings. We call him Confu'cius, though his 
Chinese name was Kong-foo-tse. He was not a religious 
teacher. That is, he said nothing about the gods, but he 
taught the people to be good and to lead wise and moral 
lives. Of all the great men who have lived on the earth, 
whether conquerors or inventors or writers, none have 
gained greater renown than this quiet Chinese teacher, for 
to-day a nation of nearly five hundred million people are 
still studying the sayings of wise old Confucius and, as it 
were, going to school to him. 



102 ANCIENT HISTORY 

Confucius as a Writer. — Confucius was a celebrated 
writer also. There were plenty of earlier writers, but what 
they wrote is lost except so far as he saved it for us. He 
made up a "Book of History 1 ' and a "Book of Odes," and 
some other books, taking out what he thought the best of 
the old writings and letting the rest go. Some of his pupils 
wrote down his own sayings, and those of another wise 
man named Men'cius, who was also a famous author, and 
these books are all that remain of the old Chinese literature. 

A Famous King. — There is really very little worth saying 
about the Chinese kings till we come down to the most fa- 
mous of them all. The full name of this king was Tsin Chi 
Hoang-ti, but Hoangti will be name enough for us. We 
are told that he became king when he was only thirteen 
years old, and even at that age began to show what a great 
monarch he was destined to be. 

The Condition of China. — But before telling the story of 
his reign, we must say something about things in China at that 
time. It was still a small country, and did not go south of 
the great river Yang-tse Kiang, which now runs through the 
centre of the land. Below this river were the savage natives, 
and in the north were wild and warlike Tartar tribes, whose 
custom it was to break into China, murder its people, and 
carry off its wealth. And the small kingdom that existed 
was divided up between powerful princes, who cared very 
little about the king and did very much as they pleased. It 
was a system much like the feudal system of later Europe. 
You may see from this that the boy king had come into 
small power, and was likely to find great trouble. 

The Empire founded. — Hoangti was determined to be the 
real ruler of the land, and he became so. The unruly 
princes were fighting with one another, not caring much 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 



103 



for their boy king, but in time he brought them all under 
his control. This was done partly by his armies and partly 
by bribery and political trickery. But, at any rate, he over- 
threw the feudal system and became emperor of the whole 
land. 




The Great Wall of China. 

The Chinese "Wall. — While this was going on the Tartars 
of the north were killing and plundering the people, and 
riding back into the desert as soon as an army appeared. 
Hoangti grew very tired of this and decided to try a new way 
to keep them out of his realm. He would build an immense 



104 ANCIENT HISTORY 

wall along the whole northern border of China. This was 
the reason the famous Chinese wall came to be built. It 
was the most remarkable work ever done by man. It 
stretched along for fifteen hundred miles, over mountain 
and plain, and was built of brick, stone, and earth, being 
twenty-five feet wide at bottom and fifteen to thirty feet 
high. It contained more than seventy times as much ma- 
terial as the great pyramid of Egypt. But a great work like 
this needed a great king to guard it. When weak kings 
reigned the Tartars easily got over the wall. And as there 
were many weak kings, they had plenty of chances. 

The Troublesome Books. — Hoangti did other striking 
things. He built himself splendid palaces. He had fine 
roads made in all directions. He divided the empire into 
provinces, and put governors over them in place of the 
princes. But his worst trouble was with the men of learn- 
ing, who did not like to see the old things set aside by this 
new emperor. They grumbled and complained, and said 
that the books taught this and the books taught that, until 
the emperor began to think that he would never have a 
quiet time till those troublesome books were all out of the 
way. He did not care for books himself, thinking they were 
more plague than profit. So he issued an order that all the 
books in the empire, except those about medicine, agricul- 
ture, architecture, and astronomy, should be destroyed. 

A Terrible Edict. — Such a thing no other king ever did 
in the history of the world. It seemed a frightful thing to 
do, and threw the learned men into a terrible panic. If 
any one were to try it nowadays he would rouse a revolu- 
tion and very likely be driven from the throne. But Hoangti 
was a powerful king in a rude age, and his edict was carried 
out as far as possible. The whole empire was searched for 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 105 

books, and all that could be found were burned. Every man 
who praised the past and condemned the present was or- 
dered to be put to death, and any one found with a book in 
his possession, after thirty days, was branded and sent to 
work for four years on the great wall. As for the learned 
men who ventured to disobey the edict, hosts of them were 
arrested and four hundred and sixty of them were buried 
alive in a great pit dug for that purpose. 

How the Books were saved. — One might think that 
measures like this would put an end to all books, but they 
did not. Many of the people loved their books more than 
anything besides, and they hid them in every way they 
could. They were hidden in the roofs and walls of the 
houses, were buried underground, and were concealed in the 
beds of rivers. After Hoangti died many books came out 
again. Some of the old books had gone, but men lived who 
remembered them. A blind old man was able to repeat a 
large part of the " Book of History" of Confucius, and other 
old works were saved in the same way. 

The Later Kings.- — China had no more kings like 
Hoangti. There were plenty who came after him, some of 
them wise, but more of them weak, and there were wars 
and rebellions and plenty of bloodshed and ruin, but hardly 
any progress. There was very little advance in learning 
and morals after Confucius and as little in the art of gov- 
ernment after Hoangti. 

The Mongol and Later Conquests. — China was twice con- 
quered by the desert peoples, in spite of its great wall. In the 
thirteenth century the famous Mongol warrior Genghis Khan 
(jen'gis kan) invaded the land, and after him came Kooblai 
(Ku'bli) Khan, who founded a Mongol empire that lasted for 
nearly a hundred years. It was during his reign that a great 



106 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



traveller from Venice, named Marco Polo, visited China and 
lived there many years. When he came back he wrote a 
book that told us much about that old land. Then, in the 




Manchu Soldier. 



seventeenth century, China was conquered again, this time by 
the people of Manchur'ia. The Manchurian emperors are still 
on the throne, though many great rebellions have been made 
by the Chinese against them. 



LITERATURE AND ART IN CHINA. 

Chinese Writing-. — Since the days of Hoangti the writers 
of China have been very busy, and multitudes of books 
have been written, including great encyclopaedias of history 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 107 

and the arts, poems, stories, etc. Yet writing is not an easy 
matter in China. They have no alphabet, as we have. 
With them every word has its special sign, and instead of 
learning the twenty-six letters of the alphabet, a Chinese writer 
needs to know over five thousand separate signs. They have 
in all from twenty-five thousand to fifty thousand signs. 
One would think there would not be many authors to write 
a language like that, but the Chinese are great students and 
have many writers. They have the art of printing also, 
which they invented long before it was known in Europe. 

A Civil Service System. — Education is highly esteemed 
there, and is very general among the people. The land was 
full of schools at the time of Confucius and likely long 
before. All the office-holders in China have to pass a civil 
service examination, which is very strict for the higher 
offices, so one might imagine that the office-holders in China 
must be very learned. But the learning required is that of 
the old books of Confucius and Mencius, and there is nothing 
of modern science and art and history and such studies 
taught. The Chinese are now beginning to take these up, 
so that in time to come they may know something better 
worth knowing than their ancient classics. 

New Ideas in China. — The Chinese are a very industri- 
ous people. They have their religions, too, three different 
ones, though they have very little true religion. Their an- 
cestors are looked upon as divine spirits and are everywhere 
worshipped. For centuries past they have tried to keep 
foreign people out of their country. They think no one can 
teach them anything worth learning, and they dislike 
strangers. But of late years foreigners have forced their 
way in and they have taught the people and the emperor 
that there are others besides themselves who know things 



108 ANCIENT HISTORY 

worth knowing, and that the science and learning of Europe 
and America may be of use even to so self-satisfied a people 
as they have long been. The Chinese are now building rail- 
roads and telegraphs, and buying battle-ships and guns and 




Building of the Tsung-li-Yamen. or Boaed of Foreign Affairs, Peking. 

rifles, and some of them are studying the books of Europe ; 
and it begins to look as if China before very long would 
swing into the current of world history, instead of keeping 
in its old lake bed. 



CHAPTER VII 
INDIA 

The Migration to Persia and India. — Very far back in 
time there seems to have been a people of the Aryan race 
dwelling in the mountain land northwest of Persia. They 
were probably made up of tribes of herdsmen, who wandered 
about from pasture to pasture with their cattle and sheep. 
The time came that a part of these shepherd people 
journeyed to the west and settled the land now known as 
Persia. Another part moved south into India, and settled 
that land, after driving back the dark-skinned natives they 
found there. These were the people whom we now know 
as Hin'dus. They came to India some time before 1500 b.c, 
perhaps long before that date ; no one knows just how long 
ago this was. 

The Vedic Hymns. — Like the Persians, the Hindus have 
their sacred books. They called them the Ve'das, and they 
are made up of hymns to the gods. The priests joined with 
the chiefs in leading the people to battle, and composed and 
sang these sacred songs as they marched against their foes. 
How long it took to write all these hymns we do not know. 
It may have taken a thousand years or more for the invaders 
to drive back the natives and win the fertile valleys of the 
Indus and Ganges Rivers. 

Character of the Hindus. — After the Hindus had con- 
quered the country they seemed to lose the fighting spirit. 
The climate was hot and moist and the sun took from them 
their energy ; while the Persians, in their high chill moun- 

109 



110 ANCIENT HISTORY 

tain land, grew more warlike than ever. With the Hindus 
the priests seemed to be of more account than the kings. 
The people were divided up into small kingdoms, and there 
never was one king over the whole country. They became 
busy writers and produced many books, both in prose and 
poetry, but they did not seem to care for history, so we 
know hardly anything of what took place in their long 
centuries. 

The Brief History of India. — India seems to be the only 
country whose people did not care for history or military 
glory. They never sent out an army to conquer other 
countries, though they were conquered themselves more 
than once. The kings of Persia were the first to march 
there with their armies, and afterwards came Alexander the 
Great. He did not make his way far into the country, but 
the scholars with him studied the land and its people, and 
wrote accounts of what they saw and learned. What they 
told is very much like what is found in India to-day, for the 
people there have changed as little as the Chinese. India 
has been conquered several times since, and is held by the 
English to-day, but its people still devote themselves to their 
literature and religion, and care no more for history than 
they did of old. In writing of India, therefore, we must 
devote ourselves to these things, since there is scarcely any 
history to tell. 

THE CUSTOMS AND RELIGION OF THE HINDUS. 

The System of Caste. — Some nations, you know, are 
divided into classes, and others are not. In many European 
countries there are the classes of ruler, nobles, merchants, 
and peasants In our own country there are no classes, 
and the poorest man may become President. But if we go 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 



111 



to India, we find the division into classes, or " castes," as 
they are called, greater than anywhere else on the earth. 
There it is a matter of religion, and no man can leave his 
caste. And a man of a high caste thinks himself disgraced 
if he is even touched by one of a lower caste. There must 
be a good deal of hard feeling in a country like that. 

The Pour Castes. — There are in India four chief castes, 
which have lasted for ages. The first of these is made up 
of the priests, the second of the soldiers and rulers, the 
third of the farmers and traders, and the fourth of the 
serfs, or sudras, who are the descendants of the old natives 
of the country. Then there are the pariahs or outcasts, 
who are the lowest of the natives and are despised by every- 
body. And no man can 
get out of the caste into 
which he is born, if he be 
wise as Solomon or rich as 
Crcesus. There used to be 
a system like this in old 
Egypt, but there is nothing 
like it anywhere else on the 
earth to-day. 

The Hindu Religion. — 
The Hindus are a very reli- 
gious people. Their religion 
is known as Brah'manism. 
Ah first they worshipped the 

Heaven Father. Then they grew to believe in what is called 
Pan'theism, and taught that God exists in all things and is 
the soul of the universe. But the peculiar feature in their 
religion is what is known as transmigration of souls. They 
believe that when a man dies his soul goes into the body of 




Brahman from Cashmire. 



112 ANCIENT HISTORY 

some new-born child, or if he has been wicked into that of 
some animal. And his soul must go through many such 
bodies before it is pure enough to ascend to heaven and join 
the company of the good. 

The Growth of the Buddhists. — About the year 500 
b.c. there lived in India a great teacher known as Buddha 
(bood'dah), who preached a new religious doctrine, in which 
he tried to do away with the system of caste, and said that 
the poor outcast was as precious in the sight of God as the 
proud Brahman or priest. This made the Brahmans, who 
thought that heaven belonged to those of high caste, very 
bitter, and after many centuries they succeeded in driving all 
the Buddhists out of India. But the Buddhists were active 
missionaries, and their religion had spread through China 
and Japan and Mongolia and Ceylon, and in our day Bud- 
dhism is the religion of nearly one-third of the whole human 
race, and there are more Buddhists on earth than there are 
Christians. 

The Literature of India. — The Hindus have been very 
busy writers and have a great many books, most of them 
religious. You have been told about the Vedas, or hymns to 
the gods, of whom the people believe in a good many. Then 
there are many other writings both in prose and poetry. 
Among these there are some great religious poems, and 
books on grammar, law, and arithmetic, with plays and 
other poems. There is almost everything except history. 
The Hindus are the only large nation which never had a 
king over the whole people, and which never went to war 
with its neighbors. And history, you know, is generally the 
story of the "king and his doings. 

The "Wealth of India. — India has long been a very rich 
country. It was celebrated in the past for its silks, spices, 



THE ORIENTAL NATIONS 



113 



perfumes, diamonds, and other precious stones, and the 
nations of Europe were eager to trade for these rich goods. 
The old Phoenicians sent their ships and their caravans to 
India several thousand years ago, and this has ever since 
been kept up. It was the wish to find a new way to India 
and its riches that set Columbus on the great voyage in 
which he discovered America. And he always thought he 
had got there. 



f^Mi&^^^i 




Rock Carvings in India. 



A Land of Grand Architecture. — There is one thing 
more we must say of India. Its people have been great 
builders. Nowhere else on the earth do we find more 
splendid temples and grottos than those they have cut out 
of the solid rock. And they have built many temples of 
immense size and full of wonderful carvings. Thousands 
of men have worked for hundreds of years on these mighty 
buildings and rock cuttings, which are among the wonders 
of the world. 



114 ANCIENT HISTORY 

SUMMARY OF HISTORY OF CHINA AND INDIA. 

Confucius and his teachings 551 b.c. 

Hoang-ti the great emperor 221 " 

Kooblai Khan 1260 a.d. 

Manchurian conquest 1644 " 

Aryan conquest of India before 1500 b.c. 

Buddhism founded about 500 " 

Mohammedan invasion . 1001 a.d. 

British control began . 1757 " 



SECTION II.— GREECE AND MACEDONIA 

CHAPTER I 
GREECE BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 

So far you have been reading the ancient history of Asia 
and Egypt. Now you must begin to read the history of 
Europe, which has long been the great historic continent. 
And the earliest country to come before us in Europe is the 
famous land of Greece, in which civilization first set foot on 
that continent. 

"What Greece owed to the Earlier Empires. — Many 
old writers set out in the history of the world with Greece, 
as if the older nations were not worth speaking about. 
But it is now being learned that the seeds of Grecian history 
were planted in Asia and Egypt, and that the Greeks went 
to school, as we may say, to the Egyptians, Assyrians, and 
Phoenicians. As you have been told, the course of history 
has been like that of a mighty river. It had its sources in 
Babylonia and Egypt, and Greece lay a long distance down 
the stream. It is quite certain that the Greeks learned 
much from the older nations, but no one can say as yet just 
how much ; so, without further introduction, we shall take 
up the history of the Grecian people. 

The Small Size of Greece. — If you look on the map 
of Europe for the country of Greece you will find it to be a 
little rocky peninsula in the southeast, running down into 
the Mediterranean Sea, and separated from Asia by a narrow 

115 



116 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



stream of salt water. Modern Greece is only about half as 
large as the State of New York, and ancient Greece was not 
much larger than that State. It does not take up much 
room on the map, as you may see, but for all that the 
people who lived there took up a very large room in history. 
What would you think if the State of New York contained 
twenty or more different nations, some of them wise and 




Longitude - East 24 fr«ui .HtmmM 



Map of Greece. 



learned and some dull and ignorant, but all of them full of 
warlike spirit, and fighting together like cats and dogs ? It 
was that way with Greece during most of its history, for its 
vales and hills held nearly twenty different nations, some of 
them with only a handful of people and a few rocks and 
plains to live on. Even At'tica, the most famous of them 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 117 

all, was only a little larger than our State of Delaware, and 
about twice as large as the tiny State of Rhode Island. You 
may see that only a great people could have given so much 
fame to so small a land. 

The Beauty of Greece, — There is much that is beautiful 
and charming about the land of Greece. They who go there 
say that it is a delightful country. In the north is a range 
of mountains which cut off the cold winds of the icy regions, 
and make the climate mild and pleasant. In all parts of the 
country are beautiful hills, covered with olive- and fig-trees 
and vines. At their feet are smiling valleys, while fine 
scenery is widely to be seen. On every side of the land 
flows the bright warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea, 
here and there breaking deeply into the land. In the south 
it cuts the country nearly in half, making a smaller peninsula 
called the Peloponne'sus(nowthe More'a). And all around 
this land of hills and vales are dozens of beautiful islands, 
some large, many small, and numbers of them with inter- 
esting histories. It is a country in which people might well 
have lived in peace and happiness ; but there are not many 
parts of Greece that have not been reddened with the blood 
of bold and brave fighting men. 

The Pelasgians and their "Work. — The first people we 
know anything about in Greece were called Pelas'gians. 
Nearly all we know of them is that they cultivated the 
ground and lived in cities, and built tombs and strong walls, 
in which they used immense and rudely cut blocks of stone. 
They could not be called civilized, but they were far past the 
savage state. Some of their old work remains, and looks as 
if it had been built by the hands of giants. 

The Grecian People. — Into this country of the Pelasgians 
there came, very long ago, a new people who called them- 



118 ANCIENT HISTORY 

selves Helle'nes. Although their country is now called 
Greece, they always called it Hel'las, and made very little 
use of the word Greece. There were four tribes or divisions 
of the Hellenes. Two of these, known as the Acheeans 
(A-ke'ans) and the Dor'ians, were the first to come, and they 
were later pushed on by new-comers into the Peloponnesus, 
where they founded several nations. Afterwards came the 
iEolians (E-o'lians), most of whom settled on the shores of 
Asia Minor ; and the Io'nians, whose home was in Attica, 
and who built the celebrated city of Athens. 

The Dorians and Ionians. — In later times the Dorians 
and the Ionians were the leading people of Greece. They 
were not at all like one another. The Dorians were a plain, 
practical people, devoted to war and gymnastic training, 
but caring little about literature or mental education. Their 
great city was Spar'ta. The Ionians were a people of active 
minds, who did all they could to develop their intellects as 
well as their bodies, and became the most famous artists, 
writers, and philosophers of the world. The history of 
Greece is very largely the history of the Ionians and of 
Ath'ens, which was long the world's greatest centre of art 
and literature. 

The Government of Hellas. — There is one thing more 
to be said about the Greeks, before we go into the story of 
their career. They were the first democratic people of 
whom we know anything. Everywhere else in these ancienl 
times we find the nations under kings, most of whom were 
despots, who could do what they pleased with the lives and 
property of their people. The Greek tribes at first were led 
by chiefs, who afterwards became kings, but later on repub- 
lican governments were formed, in which the laws were 
made by a legislature elected by the people, and there was 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 119 

no monarch. In many ways the government of the United 
States is like that of ancient Hellas. 

The Greek Calendar. — Where the Hellenes came from 
we do not know, except that it seems to have been some- 
where in the east or the north. And we do not know when 
they came. The first we know of their actual history begins 
with the year 776 b.c, which was the year 1 of the Grecian 
calendar. Many nations of the past, you should know, 
counted the years from a certain date, just as we do from 
the time of Christ, and it was this way with the Greeks. 

The Age of Tradition. — No doubt the Greeks had been in 
their new home many centuries before their year 1, but they 
could hardly be called civilized much earlier, though their 
greatest poet, the famous Homer, lived before that date. 
When we read about early Greece we seem to get hold of a 
good deal of history, but it is so mixed up with the doings 
of wonderful heroes, and with doubtful legends, in many 
of which the gods take part in the affairs of men, that no 
one can tell how much is true and how much false. There 
is .the story of the labors of Hercules, the Greek Samson ; 
and that of the wonderful search for the Golden Fleece ; 
and that of the famous siege of Troy, of which Homer sang ; 
and many others, not one of which belongs to history, though 
there may be some facts in them. This period is known as 
the Age of the Heroes. It might also be called the Age of 
Fable. 

Cadmus and the Alphabet. — There is one of these early 
stories which certainly contains the germ of truth, and which 
is of much importance. We are told that Cad'mus, a Phoe- 
nician, son of the King of Sidon, brought the alphabet to 
Greece far back in the history of that country. This first 
alphabet contained sixteen letters and was the foundation 



120 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



of all the alphabets of Europe. How long ago this was, and 
when the Greeks learned to write, we do not know. Some 
think that there was no writing in Homer's time, and that 
his long poems were kept in men's memories until the age 
of writing came. But there is no use in taking things like 
this by guess-work, when no one knows the truth. 

The System of Lycurg-us. — If we start at the beginning 
of actual Greek history, we find the Spar'tans — the people 
in and around the city of Sparta — one of the most promi- 
nent in Greece. Their country w r as called Laco'nia, and 
they had a very peculiar system of government, which is said 
to have been given them by a legislator named Lycur'gus, 
somewhere about 850 b.c. This was a system calculated to 
make hardy men and women and bold soldiers of the 
Spartans, but not to make them learned and wise. In some 
ways it was like that of the old Persians, but was far more 

severe. One terrible thing in it 
was that all the little children 
who were weak or sickly had to 
be taken to some lonely place and 
left there to die. Only the strong 
and healthy ones were allowed to 
live and grow up. And all of 
these, girls and boys alike, were 
made to go through severe athletic 
exercises to keep them strong 
and vigorous. 

"What the Boys were taught. 

— The boys were taken away from 

their homes and parents when 

only seven years old, and were brought up by the state 

and drilled to make them soldiers. They were taught to 




A Greek Warrior. 
(From a painted vase.) 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 121 

bear hunger and thirst and heat and cold, and to endure 
suffering without complaint. They were sometimes severely 
whipped to see if they could bear pain in silence. There is 
a famous story of a Spartan boy who stole a fox and hid it 
under his coat. The fox tore out his vitals, but not a word 
or sound of pain came from the suffering boy. In fact, they 
were taught to steal as a part of their education, and were 
punished if found out in it. This was done to teach them 
the value of secrecy and strategy in war, and about all the 
Spartans were ever good for was to fight. 

Life in Sparta. — There was little home life for the Spar- 
tans. They lived in public and took their meals at public 
tables, to which each had to give some of the produce of 
his land, and there was not much on these tables. Very 
likely they often got up hungry. The Spartan system made 
strong and valiant soldiers, but it stopped progress in every- 
thing else. The land was farmed by He' lots or slaves, and 
commerce was forbidden by law. They went so far as to 
make their money of iron, so that no one would care to 
have much of it. They had no art or literature, and despised 
public speaking, thinking that a few words were better than 
long talks. They believed in speaking briefly and to the 
point, and from that came the word "laconic," after Laco- 
nia, the Spartan land. If all the Greeks had been like the 
Spartans there would have been little important Grecian 
history. 

The Twin King's and the Bphors. — The Spartans were 
peculiar in another way. They had two kings, one to lead 
the armies, and one to stay at home and attend to religious 
duties. But these were kings only in name, 'for the senate 
was the law-making body, and all the Spartans met yearly in 
a general assembly and elected five officers, called Ephors, 



122 ANCIENT HISTORY 

who had the ruling power. So the country was something 
of a republic, though it had the form of a monarchy. 

The Spartan "Wars. — A people brought up like the Spar- 
tans could not well keep out of war. They conquered the 
Messen'ians, the Ar'gives, and other nations, and became the 
leading power in the Peloponnesus. Then, in the sixth 
century b.c, they began to interfere in the affairs of the rest 
of Greece. There were no such warriors anywhere in the 
land, and they might in time have become the lords of all 
Greece if the Persian wars had not come on about that time 
and changed the whole state of affairs. Those wars were 
the first great event in real Grecian history, but before Ave 
come to speak of them we have the early story of Athens 
to tell. 

The Acropolis at Athens. — Four or five miles from the 
sea, on the plains of the small country of Attica, there rises 
a steep hill, about a hundred and fifty feet high. It has a 
flat top, about a thousand feet long and half as wide. This 
is called the Acrop'olis, which means hill-city, and on it the 
first settlers of Athens built their humble homes, Hill-cities, 
you should know, were common enough in primitive times, 
for they served as a sort of natural forts. But in later days, 
when Athens grew too large for the hill-top, it came down 
and spread far over the plain, and the Par'thenon and other 
splendid temples to the gods were built on the Acropolis. 

Early Government of Athens. — In the early days the 
people of Attica were governed by kings. These, no doubt, 
were the old tribal chiefs, who had not much power, but 
gained more after the people became settled. The last king 
was named Co'tlrus, and after him for a long time the nobles 
held the power, and picked out as ruler one of the old royal 
family. He held the office for life, but could not leave it to 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 



123 




124 ANCIENT HISTORY 

his son. In 752 B.C., after there had been twelve of these 
life-kings or archons (ar'kons), one was chosen for ten 
years only, and later on the archon was elected for only one 
year ; still later nine archons were elected each year and 
also a senate, all whose members were nobles. As the 
nobles did everything, this was not a republic, but what is 
called an oligarchy, in which the government is in the 
hands of a few aristocrats. 

The Laws of Draco. — No doubt, if this had been in our 
own time, the common people would soon have begun to 
ask what right these nobles had to all the power, especially 
if they acted like tyrants, as these often did. The old 
Athenians were much like us and felt the same way, and at 
length there was a rebellion against the archons. This 
rebellion was put down, and all who took part in it were 
killed, but the nobles saw that the people would not put up 
with that kind of rule much longer, so they chose one of 
themselves, a statesman named Dra'co, to draw up a new 
constitution and form new laws. Draco gave some of the 
people a voice in the election of the rulers, which was a 
useful reform. But his laws were terribly severe, for they 
said that any one who committed a crime, if it was only a 
petty theft, should be put to death. So it was said that 
Draco's laws were written in blood, not in ink. 

The Constitution of Solon. — The people did not like 
these laws nor the laws about debt. Every one who owed 
a debt Avhich he could not pay might be sold for a slave. 
When bad times came many of the poor Athenians suffered 
from this cruel law ; so, in 594 B.C., a wise and good man 
named So'lon was chosen- to make a new constitution. He 
began by cancelling all debts and doing away with the right to 
sell any man for debt, which was a great boon to the people. 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 125 

And he took away most of the power of the aristocracy and 
gave all citizens of Athens a share of power, though the nobles 
were still left some special privileges. 

A Political Dictator. — After that Athens had its political 
parties, and there were struggles and fights, which ended in 
a shrewd political leader named Pisis'trates making himself 
dictator. He was like what we now call a political "boss," 
but he ruled like a king. The people bore with him, for his 
rule was mild, and his sons followed him until 510 b.c. Then 
all his family were banished and a new constitution was 
adopted, in which every citizen of Athens was given the right 
to vote and all were made equal in power. Attica had now 
become a pure democracy, with liberty and equality for all. 

Ostracism. — Any one of whom the people of Athens 
were afraid or whom they did not like could be banished, 
under the new laws, for ten years. This was done to prevent 
any more tyrants from seizing the government ; but in later 
times it led to some of the best men being banished. It was 
called os'tracism, from ostrakon, a piece of shell or pottery, 
on which was written the name of the person whose banish- 
ment was to be settled by vote. 

The Supreme Court of Athens. — Athens had another 
institution worth speaking of, a sort of supreme court, which 
had great power over the decision of other courts and also 
control over religious crimes. This was called the Areop'agus, 
and was a very ancient court, coming down from far past 
times. It met on a hill near the Acropolis, and its judges 
were those who had served well as archons. 

Such was the state of public affairs in Athens when the 
Persian invasions began, and brought on a new and nobler 
era for Greece. 



CHAPTER II 
THE PERSIAN INVASIONS OF GREECE 

The Alertness of the Greeks. — Any one may see, from 
what has been said of the Greeks, that they were no ordinary 
people. They were full of energy and activity, alert and 
wide awake in every way. No common people could have 
formed the Spartan laws and lived under them, and no com- 
mon people could have produced such poems as those of 
Homer, which in their way have never been surpassed. They 
were alert abroad as well as at home, and got all the good 
they could out of other nations. They obtained the alphabet 
from Phoenicia, and soon put it to wonderful use. They 
gained much knowledge of art and science, and also some 
of their religious ideas, from Egypt. From Assyria they 
learned something of the art of building and other useful 
things. Like bees, they were gathering honey from every 
flower. 

Navigation and Colonies. — The Greeks were as active 
and enterprising in business as in other things. Their 
"country was bathed on every side by the sea, and they soon 
became rivals of the Phoenicians as merchants and sailors, 
trading to all the ports of the Mediterranean and the Black 
Seas. Like the Phoenicians, they planted colonies wherever 
they went. The south of Italy was so full of their colo- 
nies that it was called Magna Grwcia — " Great Greece." 
In Sicily (Sis'i-le) was the Greek city of Syr'acuse, and in 
France that of Marsa'lia (now Marseilles). There were Greek 

126 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 127 

colonies also on the coasts of Africa and of Egypt and of the 
Black Sea. All this helped to bring Greece in close touch 
with the world and had much to do with its rapid progress 
in all the civilized arts. 

The Colonies of Asia Minor. — A favorite seat for Greek 
colonies was on the neighboring coast of Asia Minor. Here 
were active and flourishing colonies of the iEolians, Ionians, 
and Dorians, some of which were of much note in Grecian 
history. The iEolians formed a confederacy of twelve 
cities, and the Ionians had a powerful confederation on the 
coast of Lydia and some neighboring islands. The Greek 
colonies of Asia had much to do with the history of Greece, 
for they led to the famous Persian Avar. 

The Ionian Cities rebel and Sardis is burned. — In the 
story of Persia you have been told how Cyrus the Great 
marched through Asia Minor with his armies and con- 
quered the strong country of Lydia. He also captured and 
added to his empire most of the Greek cities and colonies 
on the coast and the adjacent islands. Some fifty years 
afterwards, in 500 B.C., when Darius was King of Persia, the 
Ionian cities, whose people did not like Persian rule, broke 
into rebellion ; and the city of Athens sent twenty ships, 
with a small body of soldiers, to help them. In the fighting 
that followed these troops captured Sardis, the capital of 
Lydia, which was set on fire by accident and burned to the 
ground. 

" Remember the Athenians." — When the proud Persian 
king heard of this he was very angry. What right, he 
thought, had those insolent Greeks to meddle in his affairs 
and burn his cities? He called for his bow and shot. an 
arrow into the air, and prayed to his god for help against 
the Athenians. And he told one of his servants to say to 



128 ANCIENT HISTORY 

him three times every day, as he sat down to his meals, 
" Master, remember the Athenians !" 

The Defeat of Mardonius. — It took Darius several 
years to put down and punish the rebels of Lydia before he 
could deal with Greece. Then he sent his son-in-law Mar- 
do'nius, with a large fleet and army, to march to Greece 
and punish its insolent people. But Mardonius did not find 
this easy to do. The barbarians of Thrace, north of Greece, 
whose country he first entered, gave his army so much 
trouble that it never reached the soil of Greece. As for the 
fleet, the wild winds came to the help of Greece. While it 
was sailing past Mount Athos, a headland on the eastern 
coast, there arose a violent storm, and three hundred ships 
went to the bottom or were wrecked on the shore. This 
was a bad beginning for the Persians, and Mardonius went 
back to Asia in disgrace. 

The Heralds of Darius. — When the news of this was 
brought to Darius he was more bent than ever on punishing 
the Greeks, and began to get ready for a great revenge. In 
two years he had an army of one hundred and twenty 
thousand men and a fleet of six hundred ships. He now 
sent heralds to the Grecian states, bidding them send him 
earth and water in token that he was their lord and master. 
The weak states did as they were ordered, but Athens and 
Sparta defied Persia and its power. What they did was to 
throw the heralds into pits and wells, telling them that they 
might help themselves to earth and water for their master. 

The Plain of Marathon. — Darius did not send his army 
this time by the way of Thrace, but had it put on board the 
great fleet and sent directly across to the Grecian shore. It 
was now the year 490 B.C., a year to be remembered as one of 
the most famous dates in Grecian history. Straight to Attica 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 129 

went the Persian ships and landed their soldiers at a place 
named Mar'athon, hardly a day's journey from Athens. 
Here is a bay, with a plain adjoining, and back of this are 
hills curving like the new moon. On the level ground the 
Persian army was drawn up, strong and confident, and full 
of hope of soon being in Athens. 

The Runner to Sparta. — But they did not know the 
spirit of the Athenians. To fill their ranks the citizens 
offered freedom to any of their slaves who would take up 
arms and fight. A swift runner was sent to Sparta to ask 
for aid. In thirty-six hours he was in that city, one hundred 
and fifty miles away. But it was several days short of the 
full moon, and there was an old superstition among the 
Spartans that it was unlucky to begin a march before the 
moon was at its full. They came fast enough when they 
did start, but when they entered Athens in full array they 
were told they had come too late, for all was over. The 
only help the Athenians got was that of six hundred men 
from the little city of Platae'a, and they only had ten thou- 
sand men in all to fight with the vast Persian host. 

The Victory at Marathon. — But those ten thousand 
Greeks were heroes. Their leader was named Milti'ades, a 
brave and able soldier and patriot. He drew up his small 
force on the slope of the hills leading down to Marathon. 
The whole level ground before them was filled with Persians 
in martial array. But at the word of command the Greeks 
charged like a tempest down the hill-side and were soon 
cutting and thrusting furiously among the crowded host. 
Back went the Persians in terror and confusion, first the 
centre, then the wings, wildly fleeing towards their ships, 
into which they hastily crowded. Thousands of them lay 
slaughtered on the plain. It was one of the most famous 

9 



130 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



victories in history. A messenger was at once sent to 
Athens with the glorious news, but he was so exhausted 
with his swift run that he could barely gasp out " Victory is 
ours !" when he fell dead. 




MlLTIADES GIVEN THE VICTOR'S LAUREL-BEANCH. 



Athens saved from Capture. — There is one thing more 
to be told of that great day. Miltiades put watchers on the 
hill-tops, and they brought him word that the Persian fleet 
was sailing for Athens, no doubt expecting to find it empty 
of soldiers. But when the Persian generals landed the next 
morning to attack the city, they saw drawn up before them 
the invincible ten thousand, who, tired as they were, had 
marched in all haste to their city's defence. The Persians 
had seen and felt all they wanted of these men, so they 
hastily set sail for the shores of Asia. They had been 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 131 

taught a useful lesson, — namely, that free Europe was not to 
be subjected easily to Persian tyranny. 

The Gathering- of a New Host. — Likely enough, if any 
of us had been in the great palace of Persepolis when this 
news reached there, we would have seen the mighty King 
Darius in a frightful temper. He, the lord of all southern 
Asia, had been defied and twice defeated by the few people 
of the little rocky peninsula of Greece ! He vowed that the 
next time there should be a different tale to tell, and began 
to collect an immense force from all parts of his vast empire. 
Luckily for Greece, he died before his new army was ready 
(485 b.c), and left his feeble son Xerxes to take up the task. 
So it happened that ten years passed before the Persians 
came back again, and then with a feeble leader. 

The Crime of Miltiades. — In those ten years some 
things worth telling took place. Miltiades, the victor at 
Marathon, fell into disgrace by using the fleet of Athens to 
avenge himself on some of his private enemies. He came 
back wounded and was put on trial for his traitorous con- 
duct. By law he should have been condemned to death, 
but he had done so much for Athens that he was merely 
fined. The fine was more than he could pay, but he 
escaped it by dying of his wound — perhaps aggravated by 
shame and remorse. 

Two Famous Contestants. — There were two other 
famous Athenians, Themis'tocles and Aristi'des, who be- 
came prominent in those years. Themistocles was a far- 
seeing statesman. He told the people that the Persians 
would surely come again and that they should be prepared 
for a bitter war ; especially that a strong navy should be 
built, for they would bring many ships. Aristides was a 
just and noble man, but not so wise a statesman as The- 



132 ANCIENT HISTORY 

mistocles, and he bitterly opposed the building of a navy, 
saying that Athens should trust to its soldiers, as of old. 
He was very stubborn, and each gathered a party and 
fought so hard that the whole town was upset by their 
rivalry. The people did not see any way to settle this 
quarrel except by banishing one of the two leaders by the 
law of ostracism. Most of the people agreed with Themis- 
tocles, so Aristides was sent into exile, six thousand votes 
being cast against him. Themistocles now carried out his 
policy, and soon Athens had the largest navy any Greek 
city had ever known, with a fine harbor near by. 

Aristides and the Voter. — There is a good story told of 
the banishment of Aristides. While the vote was being- 
taken in the assembly of the people, an ignorant peasant 
came up to the statesman himself and asked him to write 
the name of Aristides on his shell. He calmly did so, and 
then asked him what harm Aristides had ever done to him. 
"None at all," 1 said the voter; "I do not even know him; 
but I am tired of hearing him called 'the Just. 1 " 

Xerxes and his Army. — Never had there been such 
preparations for war as those which Xerxes made. For 
years they went on through the whole great Persian Empire. 
Every province, from India to Lydia, had to furnish stores 
and men, arms and food. All along the route of the army 
•great storehouses of provisions were placed. And every- 
where on the Asiatic sea-coast vessels were gathered. A 
ship-canal was cut behind Mount Athos, in front of which 
Mardonius had lost his fleet. Across the Hellespont, the 
stream between Europe and Asia, a double bridge of boats 
was built for the march of the mighty Persian army of more 
than a million men. One would have thought that it was 
all Europe, instead of little Greece, that they were coming 






GREECE AND MACEDONIA 133 

to conquer. Luckily for Greece, its great foe Darius was 
dead, and Xerxes was better fitted for palace pleasures than 
for war. 

The Bridge of Boats. — The first trouble was with the 
Hellespont, where a fierce storm carried away the bridge of 
boats. Xerxes showed the kind of man he was by order- 
ing the builders to be put to death and the waters to be 
bound with fetters and scourged with whips — as if the 
waters and winds would mind that. Then two very 
strong bridges were built, and the army marched across, 
the king riding in state in his splendid Chariot of the 
Sun, drawn by eight milk-white steeds. For seven days and 
nights the march kept up, and then the vast host pushed 
southward towards Greece. 

"What the Greeks were doing. — You may wish to know 
what the Greeks were doing to save their country. One 
would say they were doing their best to win defeat. While 
Xerxes and his great army were coming on, they were cele- 
brating the Olympian Games, a religious festival which they 
were not willing to postpone even to serve their country. 
This is something like the story of the Spartans and the 
full moon before the fight at Marathon. All that was done 
to stop the Persians was to send a small force of three 
hundred Spartans, under their king, Leon'idas, and about 
six thousand men from the other states, to face the foe. It 
was like sending a minnow to stop a whale. 

The Pass of Thermopylae. — But you must bear in mind 
that there was a rugged mountain-chain which ran across 
the north of Greece. Between this and the sea was a 
narrow pass, named Thermopylae. Here stood Leonidas 
and his men. It was a place where a handful of brave 
soldiers could stop a host, and when Xerxes marched up 



134 ANCIENT HISTORY 

and ordered them to give up their arms, Leonidas sent back 
word, " Come and take them." 

A Mountain Pass. — For two days the Persians tried to 
take them, losing great numbers of men, and in the end 
growing so afraid of the Spartans that they had to be driven 
to the attack with whips. Then some Greek traitor showed 
Xerxes a rough path over the mountains, and soon there 
were Persian soldiers at both ends of the pass. 

The Heroes of Thermopylae. — When Leonidas heard of 
this, what did he do ? There was time to escape, but it 
was not the Spartan way to go back before a foe. By the 
law of Sparta it was his duty to conquer or die. He told 
all who cared for their lives to seek safety in flight. He 
and the Spartans would remain. They did not stay alone. 
Seven hundred brave Thespians stayed with them. The 
next day this gallant thousand fought the Persian million 
with desperate courage. Before night fell the last of them 
lay dead, but they had won immortal glory. This deed of 
deathless fame took place in August 480 b.c. 

Athens is burned. — Athens now lay open to the Persians, 
with nothing to defend it. But the advice of Themistocles 
had been taken and the city had built a great fleet. The 
oracle said that the Athenians must seek safety in their 
"wooden walls. 1 ' This, it was thought, meant the fleet, so 
all the people of Attica crowded on board the ships and 
left the city and the fields empty for the Persians, who soon 
entered Athens and burned it to the ground. 

Themistocles and the Fleet. — But there was still a hope 
for Greece and its valiant people. The fleet remained, with 
Themistocles in command. Just off the coast of Attica lies 
the island of Sal' amis, with a narrow passage between it and 
the shore. Here lay the Grecian fleet of three hundred 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 



135 



and sixty-six ships. The Persians had lost heavily by 
storm, but they still had about one thousand ships. The- 
mistocles knew the danger of delay, and he played a cun- 
ning trick on Xerxes, sending him word that he was ready 




Departure of the Fleet for Salamis. 



to join him and advising him to attack at once before the 
Greek fleet could get ready to fight. 

The Victory at Salamis. — Xerxes trusted the cunning 
Greek and ordered his captains to fight. All his troops 
were drawn up as spectators along the shore, and the king 
himself sat on a lofty throne, expecting to see a final defeat 
of the Greeks. What he saw was a terrible battle, in which 
the Greeks fought like heroes and Persian blood reddened 
the sea. Two hundred of the Persian ships were destroyed, 
and the others hastily fled. That was too much for the 



136 ANCIENT HISTORY 

weak mind of Xerxes. He feared that his bridge of boats 
would be destroyed by the victorious ships, and he set off 
in a hasty retreat for Asia, eager to get back within the 
safety of his palace walls and out of reach of those terrible 
Greeks. 

Plataea and Mycale. — Xerxes did not take all his army 
with him. He left three hundred thousand men behind. 
Mardonius, who was left in command, told him that with 
these troops he could easily conquer the rest of Greece. 
He did not know the people he had to deal with. The next 
year they collected an army of seventy thousand men, 
led by Pausa'nius, a Spartan king, and Aristides, the just 
Athenian, who had come back from exile. They met the 
Persians at Platae'a and gained a noble victory. On the 
same day (September 25, 479 b.c.) the Greek fleet met the 
Persians at Mycale (Mic'a-le), in Asia Minor, and won 
another splendid victory. That ended the war. The Per- 
sians never ventured to invade Greece again. 



CHAPTER III 



ATHENS IN THE AGE OF PERICLES 



The Glory of Athens. — The Persian wars made Greece 
great. All the civilized world of Asia and Africa had yielded 
to the great Asiatic Empire, but little Greece had defied and 
beaten it, and saved Europe from its control. And in this 
Athens had won the chief glory. 
Sparta had contributed the im- 
mortal three hundred to Ther- 
mopylae, but Athens had done 
nearly all the rest. It now lay 
a ruin, but even its ashes were 
glorious. 

The New City and. Themis- 
tocles. — Athens was not left 
long in ruins. It was rebuilt 
on a far greater and grander 
scale than before. It had been 
a small and ordinary city ; it 
now became a great and splendid 
one. The new city was laid out 
seven miles in circuit, and 

around it was built a strong and lofty wall. And as its 
power lay in its ships, still stronger walls were built round 
the harbor of Pirae'us, four miles away. This was the work 
of Themistocles, the victor at Salamis. He was an able 
man, but he was not honest. He took bribes and grew very 
rich in dishonorable ways, and in the end he was banished 

137 




Gate of Agora or Oil Market. 



138 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



from Athens. Far and wide he wandered, and at last found 
a resting-place in the court of the Persian king. Xerxes was 
dead and a new king on the throne, who so admired his 
visitor that, as the legend goes, he gave him three cities for 
his support, — one to supply him with bread, one with meat, 
and one with wine. This is the way that dishonor and 
disgrace are sometimes rewarded, but it is not the usual way. 




Plan of the City of Athens. 



The Confederacy of Delos. — The war with Persia was 
still kept up in Asia Minor, and for self-defence the islands, 
the Ionian cities on the coast, and some of the states of 
Greece formed what was called the Confederacy of Delos. 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 



139 



Athens, whose fleet made her powerful, was at its head. 
Sparta had formerly been the leading city in Greece, but 
was set aside by Athens in this confederacy ; yet most of 
the states still held to Sparta, and the Grecian world was 
divided into two great leagues under these rival cities. 

Athens and Sparta. — The power of Athens grew very 
rapidly. It soon obtained full control of the navy and of 
the funds of the Confederacy, and it was not long before 
some of the money in the treasury 
was spent for other things than 
the war with Persia. While Athens 
grew strong, Sparta grew weak. 
An earthquake destroyed much of 
the city, and this was followed by 
a rebellion of the Helots, — de- 
scendants of the old natives of the 
land, whom the Spartans held as 
slaves. This war lasted for ten 
years, and kept the soldiers of 
Sparta too busy at home to think 
of fighting abroad. 

A Great Statesman. — During 
this period a great statesman rose 
to the head of affairs in Athens, 

the famous Per'icles, under whom that city had the most 
brilliant epoch in its history. Never before nor since has 
any city seen so many great poets, philosophers, artists, and 
statesmen in the lifetime of a single man as then appeared. 
We cannot go on till we have told the story of Athens 
during the age of Pericles. 

Pericles and Cimon. — Pericles was no proud noble or 
aristocrat. He was a mere private citizen, who became the 




ANCIENT HISTORY 



leader of the democratic party, and was opposed by Ci'mon, 
the son of Miltiades, head of the aristocratic party. In the 
end Cimon was banished as a friend of Sparta, and Pericles 
was left alone as the leader of the Athenians. 

Pericles as a Statesman. — For once the Athenians had 
chosen wisely. Pericles threw all power into the hands of 
the people, making the government a pure democracy. He 
was an orator of fine powers and a man of high character 
and able statesmanship, ruling not by force but by persua- 
sion. Everything was settled by the Assembly of the People, 
and all the private citizens were made familiar with public 
affairs. Never had any people enjoyed such complete 
political liberty. For forty years this famous statesman was 
the practical ruler of what was then the most brilliant city 
in the world. 

The Long "Walls. — Let us see now what Pericles did. 
He kept up the fleet and tried his best to make good sailors 
and naval warriors of the Athenians. And that the city 
might not be cut off from its port, he got the people to build 
what were called the Long Walls, great ramparts of stone 
more than four miles long and two hundred yards apart, 
which joined the walls of the city with those of Piraeus, its 
port. Now Athens could not be cut off from its ships or 
the supplies they brought from all parts of the sea. And 
there was room enough within the walls for all the people 
of Attica. 

How Pericles adorned Athens. — While this was doing, 
Pericles was using the funds of the Confederacy to adorn 
Athens with magnificent buildings and splendid works of 
art. The grand temple called the Par'thenon was built on 
the Acropolis, and other grand and beautiful edifices, en- 
riched with the rarest sculptures and statuary, were built in 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 141 

various parts of the city. The whole city became brilliant 
and splendid in aspect. Pericles had found it wood and 
left it marble, and its statues became so numerous that they 
seemed almost to outnumber the living inhabitants. The 
temples of Athens were not wonderful for vastness of size, 
like those of Egypt, but were remarkable for the beauty of 
their architecture and their exquisite sculptures. 

A Seat of Genius. — Pericles did more than this. He 
made Athens a home for the ablest men of the world, — 
poets, artists, orators, philosophers. Great writers, dramatists, 
and thinkers made their way to this city, and it grew rich 
with the fruits of genius. The theatre was made free to all, 
and the finest works of the greatest dramatists were per- 
formed for the general public. Men before had served in 
the army, on juries, in the courts, etc., without pay, but 
Pericles saw that all were paid, so that the poorest, men 
could attend to public duties without loss. He even went 
so far as to supply free banquets for the people on festival 
days. 

A "Warlike City. — And while this was going on at home, 
Athens was waging war abroad. In one year it made war 
in Cyprus, in Egypt, in Phoenicia, and in some other places. 
As for Persia, the tide was so turned that in the year 450 
b.c. Artaxerxes, the king, made a treaty with Athens in 
which all the Greek cities of Asia Minor were declared free, 
and he promised not to send a ship into Grecian waters nor 
bring a soldier within three days' march of the coast. 

Complaints ag-ainst Athens. — Athens had risen from a 
burned and ruined city into the position of the capital of an 
empire. It is true that the other members of the Confed- 
eracy of Delos complained bitterly of their money being 
used in order that Athens might " gild itself as a proud and 



142 ANCIENT HISTORY 

vain woman decks herself out with jewels. 1 ' But Pericles 
answered that as long as the Athenians kept back the Per- 
sians they had the right to use the remaining money as they 
pleased. And some of the allies who refused to pay were 
made to do so by force. 

A Feeble Empire. — You may see that the empire of 
Athens was not a very strong one. The allied cities were 
like conquered subjects, forced to pay tribute, and were full 
of rebellious feeling. Such a confederacy as this could not 
last. It was like a house built upon the sand. Even when 
Athens was at the most splendid point in its career the end 
of its power was at hand. But this did not come from its 
rebellious allies, but from the power and jealousy of its 
rival, Sparta. A mighty struggle between the two leading 
cities of Greece was soon to come, the famous and ruinous 
Peloponnesian War. 



CHAPTER IV 
THE PELOPONNESIAN AND THEBAN WARS 

Greek meets Greek. — Now we have a sad story to tell, a 
story of cruel war among brother states, of the strife of Greeks 
with Greeks, and the ruin and desolation of much of the land. 
It arose from the struggle for power between Athens and 
Sparta, and left Greece, at the end of seventy years of use- 
less bloodshed, so weak and exhausted that she readily fell 
victim to a foreign foe. It is a tale of woe and disaster, but 
one that must be told. 

Sparta and Athens. — Before the Persian war, Sparta had 
been the leading power of Greece. That war made Athens 
great and strong, and the two soon became rivals for supreme 
control. Athens was lord of the sea, with its islands and 
shores. Sparta was chief among the inland cities and states. 
Athens believed in liberty and equality, Sparta in the rule of 
the aristocrat, and a long and bitter contest began between 
these strong rivals. 

The Peace of Pericles. — You have read how Pericles 
made Athens the most beautiful and noble of cities. This 
great statesman loved peace, and in the year 445 b.c. he 
made a thirty years 1 truce with Sparta, called the Peace of 
Pericles. No doubt he hoped to go on in his splendid work 
of making Athens the most magnificent and intellectual city 
in the world. But the fates were against him, and before 
the thirty years were half over he saw that war was near at 
hand. 

143 



144 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



The Jealousy of Sparta. — The fact is that Sparta was 
jealous of the greatness of Athens and was eager for an 
excuse for war, that she might humble this proud city. An 
excuse came when Athens quarrelled with and sent troops 
against one of her allied cities, which was in a colony founded 
by Corinth, one of the chief cities of the Spartan league. All 
Greece was stirred up by this quarrel, and Sparta decided 
that Athens had broken the truce. War was at once de- 
clared and the mighty struggle between the rival cities began. 




Greek Peasant going to Market. 



The Spartans invade Attica. — -Both cities were strong, 
but the strength of Athens lay in its powerful navy, that of 
Sparta in its large and well-drilled army. One was strong 
on the water; the other on land. So when, in the year 
431 b.c, a Spartan army marched into Attica, all the people 
of that state were made to come within the walls of the city, 
leaving their farms, hamlets, and villas to the foe. Soon they 
had before them, as they looked from the high walls, the sad 
sight of flames rising on all sides from their villages and 
farm-houses. And when the Spartan bands marched up to 
the very city gates, Pericles had much trouble to keep the 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 145 

furious people from rushing out to fight for their burning 
homes. 

The Plague at Athens. — The next year the Spartans 
came again, and burned and ruined all that had escaped 
them the year before. And what was still worse, a frightful 
pestilence broke out within the crowded city, and hundreds 
of men, women, and children died miserably. It is said that 
about one-fourth of the fighting men perished. Worst of 
all, Pericles was among those who died of the plague. Thus 
the people were left without a leader, for no one so wise as 
he rose to take his place. 

The Fate of Mitylene. — While the Spartans were thus 
destroying the Attic farms the fleet of Athens was busy at 
sea bringing food to the crowded city and doing what harm 
it could to the coast lands of the hostile states. It was a 
bitter and cruel war. Not only were many men slain in the 
field, but nearly all those taken prisoners were brutally killed. 
Two things took place which show how merciless were the 
Greeks in spite of their boasted civilization. In the year 428 
b.c. the city of Mitylene (Mit-i-le'ne), situated on the beauti- 
ful island of Lesbos, threw off the rule of Athens. An army 
was sent there and the rebellion was soon put down, and 
then the assembly of the Athenian people met to decide 
what should be done with the rebels. Pericles was dead, 
and Cle'on, a loud-voiced demagogue, had taken his place 
as a leader of the people. He was a heartless and cruel 
wretch, and proposed that all the men of the place, six 
thousand in number, should be killed and all the women 
and children sold as slaves. So great was his influence over 
the people that this terrible decree was passed, and a galley 
was sent at once to Mitylene, carrying the deadly order to the 
general in command. That night there was not much sleep 

10 



146 ANCIENT HISTORY 

in Athens. The citizens thought of what they had done, and 
were filled with horror. Early the next day the assembly was 
called together again and the frightful sentence was hastily 
repealed. A swift trireme was sent out in the utmost haste 
after the former galley, which had twenty-four hours the 
start. Never had the oarsmen of Greece rowed as those 
men did. It was with them a question of life and death. 
They reached Mitylene just in time to save its citizens from 
ruthless slaughter. But the sentence they bore was cruel 
enough. A thousand of the nobles were killed, the city was 
destroyed, and most of the land of the island was seized 
by citizens of Athens. That was what even Athens called 
mercy in those days. 

The Siege of Platsea. — The Spartans were still more cruel 
at Platsea, a small city near which the Grecian army had 
gained one of its glorious victories over the Persians. Plateea 
had long been friendly to Athens, though it belonged to a state 
of the Spartan league, and an army from Sparta came and 
laid siege to it. There were only four hundred and eighty 
men within the walls of the little city, but they were brave 
patriots, and for two long years they defended themselves 
against their foes. Then, when hope was at an end, the 
most of them broke through the Spartan lines one stormy 
night and escaped. All the men that remained were cruelly 
put to death, the women were sold as slaves, and the little 
city was razed to the ground. That was the way the 
Spartans kept the oath of their king that the battle-field of 
Platsea should be forever held sacred. 

The "War goes on. — Thus the war went on. Every sum- 
mer the men of Sparta marched into the ruined fields of 
Attica and stood with their long spears before the im- 
pregnable walls of Athens. But all the real fighting took 






GREECE AND MACEDONIA 147 

place elsewhere, and at one place three hundred Spartans 
were captured on an island and taken as prisoners to 
Athens. At length, after this had gone on for ten years, a 
treaty of peace was made which was to last for fifty years. 
But there is true peace and false peace, and this treaty was 
not worth the ink it took to write it. Athens and Sparta 
did not fight directly with each other, but their allies kept 
on fighting and they helped them all they could. 

The Character of Alcibiades. — Now we come to the 
events that led to the defeat and fall of Athens. They were 
due to a false-hearted young nobleman named Alcibi'ades, a 
nephew of Pericles and a pupil of Socrates, the famous 
philosopher. He was rich and handsome, an able man and 
a fluent speaker, and he soon won the ear of the crowd. But 
he was ambitious and dissolute, he had no principle, and he 
led the Athenians to ruin. In those days the assembly of 
the people ruled Athens, but Alcibiades ruled the assembly, 
and the throng voted in favor of everything he wished. 

An Imperial Scheme. — There was a large city in the 
island of Sicily, named Syracuse, which was on the side of 
the foes of Athens, and Alcibiades told the people that it 
would be a splendid thing for the Athenians to capture and 
hold that city. This would help them to conquer all the col- 
onies in Italy and Africa, and Athens would become the most 
powerful city in the world. He laid this fine scheme before 
them in such a way that they all voted for it, and the largest 
expedition that ever left Athens sailed to Sicily to capture 
Syracuse. Alcibiades and an old general named Nicias (Ni- 
ki'as) were at its head. 

A Fatal Loss to Athens. — If Alcibiades had stayed with 
the fleet he might have taken Syracuse, but he had enemies 
at home who accused him of an act of impiety against the 




148 ANCIENT HISTORY 

gods, and he was ordered to Athens for trial. Instead of 
coming home, he fled to Sparta, where he turned traitor and 
told the Spartans what they should do to 
help Syracuse. The result was very bad for 
Athens. Its fleet was destroyed and its army 
defeated. The vast expedition was ruined. 
Seven thousand of the best soldiers of 
Athens were crowded as prisoners into 
stone-quarries, where hundreds of them 
died. Most of the remainder were sold into 
slavery. So by listening first to Alcibiades, 
bust op alcibiades. an( j then listening to his enemies, the Athe- 
nians had wrecked the power of their city. 
How the "War went on. — After that all went wrong 
with Athens. The Spartans, who for seven years had kept 
out of Attica, now marched back again, and this time they 
built and garrisoned a strong fort only twelve miles from 
Athens. The allies of Athens fell away on every side. 
Alcibiades went to Asia Minor and got the Persians to help 
the Spartans. It is true that later on he came back to his 
own people, helped them to win some fine naval victories, 
and led the Persians away from the Spartans. But he had 
ruined Athens, and her case was hopeless. His career ended 
in defeat, and then in death at the hands of the Persians. 
Thus passed away a man who, if he had been true to his 
country, might have saved it and won himself endless fame. 
But a strong mind with a false heart can only lead to 
infamy. 

The Loss of the Fleet. — The long war was now near 
its end. In 405 b.c. -the Athenian fleet was surprised by 
the: Spartans at a place called iE'gos-pot'a-mos, on the 
Hellespont, and nearly all the ships were destroyed. Three 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 149 

thousand prisoners were taken and all of these were cruelly 
put to death, and were even denied the sacred rite of burial. 
That ended the war for Athens. Its fleet, to which it 
trusted, was destroyed. The city was attacked by sea and 
land, and the next year fear of starvation forced the citizens 
to surrender, after the war had lasted for twenty-seven 
years. 

The Long- "Walls go down. — This was a terrible fate for 
the proud city, which less than a century before had saved 
Greece from the Persian yoke. The Spartans cared nought 
for this. The long walls were torn down, falling to the 
sound of flutes and the steps of dancers crowned with gar- 
lands of flowers. Some of the victors proposed to level 
the whole city and turn its site into pasture-land, but the 
Spartans themselves opposed this. They would not con- 
sent, they said, "to put out one of the eyes of Greece." 

Sparta is Supreme. — Sparta was now supreme, but it 
was at a terrible cost to Greece. During those long years 
of war Athens and her allies had lost sixty thousand men 
and all their ships. Everywhere in Greece could be seen the 
ravage of war. Cattle now grazed where once large towns 
had stood. The marks of ruin were to be seen on all sides, 
and Greece paid bitterly for the crime of its fraternal war. 
As for Athens, it was left under a Spartan garrison ; thirty 
persons being placed in power, who put numbers of citizens 
to death without trial, and were well named the Thirty 
Tyrants. Their rule lasted only eight months. Then the 
exiles from Athens returned with arms in their hands, drove 
them out, and restored the old form of government. 

Soldiers of Fortune. — Just here we must pause to tell 
an interesting story. Peace had come, and Greece was full 
of soldiers out of business, men to whom war was a trade. 



150 ANCIENT HISTORY 

At that time there was a Persian satrap, or governor, in 
Asia Minor named Cyrus, brother to King Artaxerxes. He 
wanted to be king himself, and rebelled against his royal 
brother, setting out with a hundred thousand men to fight 
for the throne. A large number of the Greek soldiers of 
fortune, more than ten thousand in all, went with him. 

The Battle of Cunaxa. — Away they marched through 
Asia Minor and Syria to the Euphrates, and here, at a place 
named Cunax'a, near Babylon, they met the Persian army 
of more than half a million of men. The Greeks fought as 
at Marathon and won the victory, but Cyrus was killed in 
the battle, and nothing was left to fight for. The Greeks were 
now in the greatest danger. All their leaders were killed 
by Persian treachery, and the ten thousand were left in the 
heart of the Persian Empire without a commander, while a 
vast multitude of hostile Persians were near by. 

The March of the Ten Thousand. — The brave Greeks 
did not lose their courage. New leaders were chosen. It 
is to one of these named Xenophon (Zen'o-fon) we owe the 
story of their wonderful homeward march, the most famous 
in history. They did not know the country nor the language 
of its people. They had to fight their foes at a dozen points. 
Hunger and cold assailed them. Dangers faced them every- 
where. Yet they marched on for more than fifteen hundred 
miles, and at length a glad cry of " The sea ! The sea !" 
broke out as their eyes fell on the dancing waters of the 
Euxine, or Black Sea. Here they were safe, and took ship 
for home. Their story, as told by Xenophon, is a wonderful 
one, which all of you should some time read. 

Greece under Spartan Dominion. — While this was going 
on, the Greeks at home were learning that Sparta was not a 
good master. Its people were stern, cruel, and tyrannical. 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 



151 



They had none of the soft manners or popular liberty of 
Athens. It was their aim to put in every town a ruling 
body of ten persons and a governor of their own choice. 
Their oppression became so great that a strong spirit of 




Piraeus, the Port of Athens. 



revolt arose. Even the Persians grew afraid of them, for 
their general, Agesila'us, was winning important victories in 
Asia. To check their progress Persian gold was sent to 
Athens, with which the long walls were built again, and 
soon the famous old city had its ships once more on the 
sea. In 394 b.c, eleven years after Athens had fallen, one 
of its admirals defeated the Spartan fleet. The tide was 
beginning to turn. 



152 ANCIENT HISTORY 

The City of Thebes. — But it was in the year 371 b.c. 
that Sparta's power fell, and it was to a city whose name 
we have not yet mentioned that it owed its downfall. This 
city was Thebes, the chief city of Bceo'tia, a state lying north 
of Attica. There were other cities which struck for free- 
dom, Corinth and Argos among them, but it was Thebes 
that won it, and put itself for a time at the head of the 
Grecian cities. 

Two Famous Generals. — At that time there was in 
Thebes a band of three hundred men called the Sacred 
Band, who were sworn to stand by one another to the last. 
At their head was an able soldier named Pelop'idas, and he 
had a friend named Epaminon'das, who was soon to show 
himself one of the ablest generals ever known in the his- 
tory of Greece. It was by these two men that the rule of 
Sparta was brought to an end. 

The Spartans defeated. — Pelopidas struck the first blow 
for freedom when he and his Sacred Band drove the Spartan 
tyrants out of Thebes. A war followed, and in 371 b.c. a 
Spartan army, twelve thousand strong, marched to the con- 
quest of Thebes. Epaminondas and the Thebans met them 
with only half as many men, but on the famous field of 
Leuc'tra he gave the Spartans the first great defeat they had 
ever sustained. 

The Thebans before Sparta. — This great victory startled 
all Greece. It proved that the Spartans were not invincible, 
as they had been thought, and soon the victorious Thebans 
were marching to the Peloponnesus to aid the state of 
Arcadia, which was in arms against Sparta. Wherever 
Epaminondas went victory went with him, and for the first 
time in its history, it is said, the women of Sparta saw the 
smoke of an enemy's fires. Their city had no walls, for 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 153 

the spears of its soldiers had long been thought all the walls 
it needed. 

Epaminondas falls. — Four times in all the Theban army 
marched into the Peloponnesus, and for ten years Thebes 
stood supreme among the cities of Greece, for victory fol- 
lowed the steps of its heroes. At Mantine'a, in Arcadia 
(362 b.c), Epaminondas fought his last battle and died with 
the shouts of victory of his men ringing in his ears. Pelopi- 
das had already fallen, and, her great leaders gone, Thebes 
fell back to her old level. 

An Exhausted Land. — Thus had three cities in succes- 
sion risen to the supreme position in Greece. They had 
made much history, but they had worn out Greece by their 
struggles, and the time was at hand for a foe more terrible 
than the Persian to tread upon her glorious soil and bring 
them all under subjection. 



CHAPTER V 
PHILIP OF MACEDON AND ALEXANDER THE GREAT 

A Remarkable Bra. — In all the history of the world 
there is no more wonderful period than that of the three 
centuries beginning about 600 b.c. and ending about 300 b.c. 
Let us stop and briefly consider the great events which took 
place and the vast political progress of the world in those 
three centuries. Before they began, the old kingdoms of 
Babylonia, Assyria, and Egypt had existed alone for hun- 
dreds or thousands of years ; but in this brief period the 
whole map of the world was changed and new and great 
powers rose on the ruins of the old. 

From the Medes to the Macedonians. — In the beginning 
of this period the Medes came rushing from their hills, and 
the famous old empire of Assyria vanished, to be heard of 
no more. Then came the Persians, pouring' like a torrent 
over Babylonia and Egypt and spreading their dominion from 
India to the borders of Europe. Next the small country of 
Greece defeated the mighty empire of Persia, and in it rose 
-the noblest civilization the world had ever known. All this 
you have read, but you have yet to learn how Greece ruined 
itself by its foolish and endless wars and a new power 
robbed it of its liberty ; and how this new power, Mace- 
donia by name, conquered the vast Persian Empire and 
founded one of the mightiest dominions the world has ever 
seen. This was certainly a wonderful change within three 
centuries of national life. Most of it has been given in these 
154 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 155 

pages, but the remarkable story of Macedonia and its kings 
remains to be told. 

Macedonia and its Kings. — Macedonia was not a large 
country. It was smaller than Greece, and lay just north of 
the mountains of that land. It was not a republic like the 
Grecian states, but was governed by a king. Its people 




A Macedonian Coin. 

lived in the country instead of in cities, and were looked on 
and despised by the proud Greeks as rude barbarians. But 
in time they learned many of the arts of Greece and became 
partly civilized, while their kings must have come from the 
Grecian race, for they were allowed to take part in the 
famous Olympian games, which were open to none but men 
of pure Grecian blood. The greatness of Macedonia came 
from two of its kings, — Philip II., or Philip of Macedon, and 
his son, Alexander the Great. These two men, kings of a 
little country in a corner of Europe, made a mighty revolu- 
tion in the world's history in the brief space of thirty-six 
years. 

The Macedonian Phalanx. — It was in the year 359 b.c. 
that Philip came to the throne. He was a man of great 
political ability, — shrewd, cunning, artful, skilled in diplo- 
macy, and learned in the art of war. The Greeks had won 
their victories over the Persians largely by their close ranks 
and their long spears. Philip gave his men spears twice 



156 ANCIENT HISTORY 

as long as those of the Spartans — twenty-one feet long — and 
organized them into the famous Macedonian phalanx, a solid 
mass of men, sixteen ranks deep, with shield touching shield, 
and bristling with rows of lance-points in front. For two 
centuries the phalanx won on every field on which it fought. 
Philip the Plotter. — Philip of Macedon was a very ambi- 
tious man. He wanted to be the lord and master of Greece, 
and he thought that he could make himself such more easily 
by plotting than by fighting. So he began to take a part in 
all the affairs of Greece. Small wars went on between the 
states as of old, and Philip had a hand in them all, each 
time making some small step forward. For twenty years 
he went on, using arms, intrigue, bri- 
bery, and other underhand means, and 
every year increasing his power in 
Greece. 

Demosthenes the Orator. — Most of 
the Greeks were blind to Philip's plots, 
and many of them were won over by 
his arts or his bribes, for he bought over 
the weak and dishonest by his money. 
( ; But there was one great Athenian who 

saw through his schemes and was too 
good a patriot and too honest a man to take his bribes. 
This was the famous orator, Demos'thenes, the greatest 
public speaker the world has ever known. Never had men 
heard such wonderful eloquence as his when he told the 
people of Athens of the danger in which they stood, and 
laid bare before them the cunning plots of Philip of Macedon. 
Unless they took arms for liberty, he told them, they would 
soon be crushed by this wily plotter ; and this he said again 
and again. 




GREECE AND MACEDONIA 157 

The Conquest of Greece. — At length the Athenians were 
roused to war by their great orator. The Thebans joined 
them, and they met the army of Philip at a place called 
Chaerone'a, in Bceotia. The Greeks fought with their old 
courage, but they could not stand before the Macedonian 
phalanx. The Sacred Band of Thebes was killed to the last 
man and the army of Athens was put to flight. Philip was 
victor, and the liberty of Greece was at an end. This 
famous battle was fought in 338 b.c. Two years afterwards 
Philip was killed by an enemy at the marriage of his 
daughter, and his son Alexander succeeded to the throne. 

A Boy Monarch. — Alexander was then only twenty 
years old — still no more than a boy. But he was no com- 
mon boy. When only fourteen he had tamed the savage 
horse Buceph'alus, which no one else dared to mount. At 
sixteen he had saved his father's life in battle. At eighteen 
he defeated the Sacred Band of Thebes on the battle-field 
of Chseronea. Those who looked on him as a boy king, 
whom they could deal with as they pleased, soon found 
their mistake. All revolts were put down. The wild 
tribes of the north that attacked Macedonia got a severe 
lesson. The city of Thebes broke into rebellion, and was 
made a terrible example to Greece. This famous city was 
swept from the earth, and all its people — thirty thousand 
in number — were sold for slaves. Thus it was that the 
young king taught the people of Greece that it was not safe 
to rebel, and cleared the way for the greater work which lay 
before him. 

Philip's Plan of Conquest. — Philip had devised a great 
plan of conquest, which his son now took up. He pro- 
posed to lead all the fighting men of Macedonia and Greece 
against Persia and punish the Persians for their old invasion 



158 ANCIENT HISTORY 

of Greece. This pleased the Greeks, for they hated the 
Persians and were always ready for adventure and war. 
So, in the year 334 B.C., two years after he had come to 
the throne, Alexander crossed the Hellespont with an army 
and set out on one of the most remarkable expeditions the 
world has ever known. 

A Perilous Expedition. — Here was a young man of 
twenty-two, with only thirty-five thousand fighting men, 
invading an empire that covered a third of Asia and that could 
easily put a million armed men into the field. Yet he knew 
that this empire was little more than a hollow shell, and it 
is doubtful if he felt any fear, for he had confidence in him- 
self and in the men he led. With their splendid organization 
one of the Greek soldiers was worth a score of the loosely 
organized Persian warriors. 

The Victories of Alexander. — The young king met an 
army larger than his own at the Granicus, and quickly put 
it to flight. Then he marched through Asia Minor, and 
at Issus, on the borders of Syria, he came face to face with 
an immense Persian army, six hundred thousand strong. 
Here he showed how great a soldier he was. This vast 
army was utterly defeated, and King Darius fled, leaving his 
mother, wife, and children as prisoners in Alexander's 
hands. 

- The Gordian Knot. — Perhaps some of you may have 
read of the famous Gordian knot. This was a knot which 
Gordius, King of Phrygia, had made in the harness of his 
chariot. It was so intricate that no one could untie it, and 
an oracle had said that whoever did so would conquer the 
world. Alexander tried for some time, and then, losing 
patience, he drew his sword and cut the knot, saying that 
that was the way to open it. Since then " to untie the 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 159 

Gordian knot" has meant to meet any difficulty boldly. To 
Alexander it meant the conquest of Asia. 

The Conquest of Tyre and Egypt. — Alexander now 
left Darius to do what he pleased, and turned south and 
besieged the famous Phoenician city of Tyre. He took this 
by building a great causeway through the sea to the island 
and breaking through the wall. Eight thousand of its 
people were killed and thirty thousand sold as slaves. That 
was the way he had treated Thebes, and now every place 
submitted in fear to the terrible conqueror. He marched on 
until he came to Egypt, and this country, which was tired 
of its Persian masters, gave up to him without a battle. 
Here Alexander showed that he knew something besides 
fighting, for he founded the city of Alexandria, which 
became the greatest commercial city of the ancient world. 

Darius defeated at Arbela. — Alexander was now master 
of all the provinces of Persia which bordered on the Medi- 
terranean. He left no enemies behind him as he led his 
small but victorious army into the heart of the empire. 
Here, at a place called Arbe'la, near the ruins of ancient 
Nineveh, Darius had collected a vast army of a million men. 
Alexander met them with less than fifty thousand, yet he 
put the million to flight. The Macedonian phalanx, with its 
forest of spears, " cut through the ranks of the Persians as 
a boat cuts through the waves." Darius fled for safety, but 
was pursued so closely that one of his nobles killed him to 
save him from becoming a prisoner of war. There was no 
further opposition. The huge, loose empire had been con- 
quered in three years of war, and the people looked on 
the victor as their king. 

In the Persian Capitals. — Alexander marched on. 
Babylon opened its gates to the conqueror. At Susa, an- 



160 ANCIENT HISTORY 

other Persian city, he found a vast treasure in gold and 
silver, said to be worth over fifty million dollars. At 
Persepolis there was greater treasure still, valued at one 
hundred and thirty-eight million dollars. Here were the 
splendid palaces of the Persian kings. Alexander had these 
set on fire and burned to the ground, while hosts of the 
people were killed or sold into slavery. That was his idea 
of revenge for what the Persians had done to the Greeks a 
century and a half before. It was a cruel and barbarous act. 

The Conquering March of the Greeks. — The conqueror 
was not satisfied. The world was scarce large enough for 
his ambition. He marched far on into the east, conquering 
the distant countries of Bac'tria and Sogdian'a, and then 
turned south into India, defeating every army he met. On 
the Indus River he was faced by a warlike king named 
Porus, who fought bravely for his crown. At length he was 
taken and brought as a prisoner before Alexander. 

" How do you think I should treat you?" asked the victor. 

"Asa king," replied the proud Porus. 

This bold answer pleased Alexander, who gave him back 
his kingdom. 

Alexander is forced to turn back. — The Macedonian 
conqueror had now won a wider empire than that of Persia 
had ever been. But he was not satisfied. He wished to go 
on and on, fighting new battles and winning new king- 
doms. The thirst for victory was strong upon him. His 
soldiers did not agree with him. They said they had gone 
quite far enough, and their complaints forced Alexander to 
return. They wished to enjoy the spoil they had gained 
instead of fighting new barbarians. 

The Return from India. — Alexander founded Greek cities 
and colonies in the lands he had won, so as to hold them 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 



161 




Statue of Alexander the Great. 



under his dominion. He built a fleet to take back part of 
his army, but the greater part marched through the country 
now called Belu'chistan, a 
land of mountains and 
deserts, where the soldiers 
suffered terribly for food 
and water and many of 
them died. After a fright- 
ful march, all of them that 
were left reached Persep- 
olis, which they were glad 
enough to see. It was now 
the year 324 B.C., ten years 
after Alexander had set out 
on his career. In that short 
time he had conquered 
nearly all the civilized world. 

But in all his conquests, Alexander had not conquered 
himself. His vanity was so great that he wanted people to 
call him a god, and he put to death a Greek author who 
would not worship him. He had taken the place of the 
Persian kings, and now copied all their foolish pomp and 
show. He made the great city of Babylon his capital, and 
here his love of pleasure led him into the wildest drunken- 
ness and dissipation. He was full of new schemes of con- 
quest. The whole world lay before him. There were 
Arabia and Africa and Italy and Spain waiting to be con- 
quered. But while he was laying out these great plans 
death conquered him. His midnight orgies brought on a 
violent fever, and he died a victim to his excesses, in the 
thirty-second year of his life (323 B.C.). 

11 



CHAPTER VI 
THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE 

Alexander as a Statesman. — Alexander of Macedonia 
has been justly called Alexander the Great. He was not 
only great as a soldier, but also great as a statesman, and 
showed this in the steps he took to make Persia and Greece 
one nation. To do this he built cities in various places, with 
Grecian government and customs. He married a princess 
of the east and got thousands of his soldiers to marry 
Persian wives. He put able men in office, whether they 
were Persians or Greeks. He made Greek the language of 
official life, and the civilized ways and manners of Greece 
were introduced. Though he ruled for ten years only, the 
work he did lasted for centuries. 

To the Strongest. — When Alexander lay dying some one 
asked him to whom he would leave his empire. " To the 
strongest/' he said, and he handed his signet ring to Per- 
dic'cas, one of his generals. But Perdiccas did not show 
himself very strong, nor did any of his fellow-officers, and 
for twenty-two years there was fighting for power between 
the ambitious generals. At the end of that time, in the year 
301 b.c, a fierce battle took place at Ip'sus, in Phrygia, and 
after that four of the most powerful generals divided up the 
empire between them. 

The Empire of Seleucus. — Greatest among these was 
Seleu'cus, who Avas called Nica'tor, or " The Conqueror. 11 
To him came nearly the whole of the old Persian Empire. 
He was a very able ruler and an ardent patron of art and 

162 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 163 

learning. It is said that he was " the greatest founder of 
cities that ever lived.' 1 He followed out Alexander's plan 
of building cities, with customs and government like those 
of Greece, in all parts of Asia, and some of the many cities 
he built lasted for centuries. One of them was An'tioch, in 
the north of Syria, which he made the capital of his empire, 
instead of Babylon, Alexander's capital. For a long time it 
was the chief city of Asia, and had half a million of inhab- 
itants. To-day all its old splendor has gone, and all that 
remains is a little Turkish city called Antakieh. 

Antiochus the Great. — After Seleucus died there were 
many kings to succeed him, the ablest among them being 
Anti'ochus the Great, who was a famous conqueror. He 
brought back all Southern Asia under his rule, and then, .like 
the old Persians, he invaded Europe. Here he came into 
conflict with a new power, that of Rome, and was so badly 
defeated that he had to surrender part of his kingdom and 
all his ships of war, and to pay an immense sum of money. 

End of the Seleucean Realm. — There is little more to 
say about the kingdom of Seleucus. In time it broke up 
into smaller kingdoms, named Pergamus, Pontus, Armenia, 
Parthia, etc., and in the end they all fell under the power of 
Rome, except Parthia. This was a kingdom made up of the 
barbarous tribes of the far east, who were such fierce fighters 
that the Romans could never conquer them. 

The New Kingdom of Egypt. — Another of the kingdoms 
into which the empire of Alexander broke up was that of 
Egypt. One of Alexander's generals, named Ptolemy (Tol'e- 
me), became the ruler of this old land. He was a wise and 
able man, and he ruled Egypt well. The Greeks and Mace- 
donians were masters there, but they treated the people of 
Egypt very well, and paid much respect to their old religion 



164 ANCIENT HISTORY 

and the famous monuments of the land. New and grand 
temples, in the old Egyptian style, were built by the Ptole- 
mies. 

A Noble City. — Alexandria, the city built by Alexander 
the Great, was made the capital of the new kingdom, and 
Ptolemy did his best to make it a rich and noble city. It 
grew to be a great centre of commerce, and the Pharos, or 
light-house, built of white marble, which stood at the harbor 
entrance, was so grand and beautiful that it was looked on 
as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. For centuries 
Alexandria was the greatest commercial city of the nations. 

The Museum and Library of Alexandria. — Ptolemy 
wanted to make his capital the great centre of learning, as 
Athens had long been. To do this he founded the famous 
Museum, and also the renowned Alexandrian Library, which 
at one time held seven hundred thousand volumes and was 
the greatest library in the ancient world. Poets, artists, 
scientists, philosophers, and learned men of all kinds were 
invited to Alexandria and were generously supported by the 
king, and the Museum became a splendid institution, where 
all learning was studied and where writers and scientists 
were kept busily employed. 

The Dynasty of the Ptolemies. — The Ptolemies reigned 
for three hundred years. The first three kings of this 
dynasty were able rulers, and under them Egypt became 
a great and prosperous kingdom. Then came other kings, 
most of whom were low and vile and disgraced the world 
by their vices. The last of the line was a woman, the cele- 
brated Queen Cleopatra. Her story belongs to Roman his- 
tory, and when she died Egypt became a part of Rome. 

The Story of Greece. — Now we must return to the story 
of Greece. There were other kings who reigned over parts 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 



165 



of Alexander's empire, but we need not speak of them, 

for they were of small account ; so we shall tell what now 

took place in Greece, which had played so glorious a part in 

history. You may be sure that this land of freedom did 

not much like to be under 

the rule of Macedonia, and 

as soon as the people heard 

of the death of Alexander 

they were full of hopes of 

liberty. Demosthenes, the 

great orator, and Hyper' ides, 

another orator of fame, called 

on the Athenians to strike 

for freedom, and they got a 

number of the Greek states 

to join them. 

The Death of Demosthe- 
nes. — The war that followed 
was called the Lamian war. 
It lasted for two years, and, 
though some victories were 
won, it ended in the defeat of 
the Greeks. Demosthenes, 
who had worked so hard for 

the freedom of Athens, now had to flee for safety, while 
the other orators who had spoken in favor of the war 
were cruelly put to death. Demosthenes took refuge on a 
small island, and when the victors pursued him there, 
he entered the temple. A fugitive was thought, to be 
sacred when he took refuge in a temple, and his pursuers 
tried by promises to induce him to leave it. But he swal- 
lowed poison and died a free man. For years he had been 




Cleopatka. 



166 ANCIENT HISTORY 

the noblest patriot of Greece, and he died as great as he 
had lived. 

The Gauls in Greece. — We are now near the end of 
the history of Macedonia and. Greece. They suffered dread- 
fully in the year 279 B.C., when they were overrun by a 
great horde of savage Gauls, who came from western 
Europe. Finally these fierce invaders passed into Asia and 
settled the country which was called, after them, Gala'tia. 

The Hostile States of Greece. — You must have seen 
that one great cause of the weakness of Greece was the 
constant fighting between its small states. If they had kept 
together, and fought only against their outside enemies, their 
country might have remained free. The time came when 
they saw this and began to unite into leagues. These should 
be of much interest to us, for the Grecian union was some- 
thing like our own American Union. 

The Leagues and their Weakness. — The first of these 
unions was the Achaean (A-ke'an) League, formed in 280 b.c. 
Another was the iEto'lian League. But Sparta would not 
join any of the leagues, and for a long time there was a war 
between the Spartans and the Achaean League. There was 
never any union of all Greece, and the petty jealousy of the 
states gave Macedonia the chance to gain control again. 

The Fall of Macedonia. — The end of all their wars and 
" quarrels came when the Romans began to -send their armies 
to the east. War between Rome and Macedonia began 
about 200 b.c, and kept on at intervals for many years. At 
length, in 168 b.c, Per'seus, the last king of Macedonia, was 
defeated at the battle of Pyd'na, and Macedonia became a 
province of Rome. 

Greece a Roman Province. — After that the end of 
Grecian liberty was near. The Romans had much respect 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 167 

for Greece, and for a time the Greeks were left in freedom, 
but their petty internal fights were kept up, especially 
between the Spartans and the Achaean League. At length 
the Spartans asked the Romans to come to their help. 
They came, and soon Sparta as well as the rest of Greece 
was a vassal of Rome. The last battle took place at 
Corinth in 146 b.c, and that splendid commercial city was 
burned to the ground. Greece was made a Roman province 
under the name of Achaia — and its freedom was at an end. 
Athens under the Romans. — Athens was prosperous 
under the Romans, and remained the world's great seat of 
learning. Alexandria never equalled it in fame. It was like 
a great university, and from all parts of the vast empire of 
Rome scholars flocked to its famous schools. It was long 
the centre of pagan lore, but its importance ceased when 
Christianity came, and its schools were closed by the Emperor 
Justinian in the year 529 a.d. 



CHAPTER VII 
SOCIAL AND PUBLIC LIFE IN GREECE 

Love of Warfare. — You now know much of what took 
place in the political history of Greece. It is not a very- 
agreeable or inspiring history. It was all very well when 
the Greeks were fighting bravely with strangers, who came 
to rob them of their land. But most of the time the 
brother states of Greece were fighting with each other, and 
showing a cruelty which would be thought frightful in our 
days. How much greater and nobler they would have 
been if they had kept their swords for their true enemies, 
and lived in peace and harmony together in their small 
country. 

Importance of Greek History. — The history of the 
Greeks would not have been of much importance if they 
had not been so remarkable a people. But it was in 
other ways than war-making that they were important, for 
they were the most highly cultivated people of ancient times. 
They had among them the ablest poets, historians, artists, 
philosophers, dramatists, orators, and scientists of all the 
-early nations, and their history is not half told until their 
story as artists and thinkers is given. We must therefore 
go on with some account of the private life and customs, 
the art and literature, of the ancient Greeks. 

The Ancient Governments. — But something more about 
the political conditions in Greece must first be said. You 
have already been told that in the states of Greece arose the 
first true liberty in the world. In all the older countries 

168 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 169 

you have read about, the king was lord and master of all 
his people. He could do with them what he pleased, for 
all the power was his, and the people had no rights at all, 
or none which he could not set aside with a word. 

Democracy in Greece. — The Greeks had no use for 
governments like these. They loved freedom and would 
not submit to tyrants. They had kings at first, though it is 
not likely these kings had any great power over the people. 
But the free-spirited Greeks soon got rid of their kings and 
founded governments as democratic as those of our own 
American States, governments like those which Abraham 
Lincoln said were " of the people, for the people, and by 
the people." That was one of the finest outgrowths of the 
civilization of Greece, the liberty and self-government of its 
people. 

The Dark Side of the Grecian System. — But the bright- 
est picture has often its dark side, and it was so in Greece. 
We cannot say that every man there was as good as any 
other man, and that all men had the same rights, for a large 
part of the population were slaves and had scarcely any 
rights at all. And these were white slaves, not negro slaves 
like those which our own country once had. Yet we cannot 
blame the Greeks much for this, since it is only of late years 
that the civilized world has got rid of its slaves. 

A Land full of Slaves. — In Greece nearly all the free 
people owned slaves. A citizen was thought bad off if he 
had less than half a dozen slaves. In some cities, such as 
Corinth and others, there were ten slaves to every free man. 
Even in Attica, the centre of Greek culture, the slaves num- 
bered four to one. There were about five hundred thousand 
people in that state, and of these four hundred thousand 
were slaves. 



170 ANCIENT HISTORY 

"Who became Slaves. — It was the frequent wars that 
made so many slaves. Prisoners were usually sold into 
slavery, and their children also became slaves. Criminals 
and debtors were often sold as slaves, and there was besides 
a regular trade in slaves, for pirates under the name of 
merchants stole people from other countries and sold them 
into slavery. 

How Slaves were treated. — Slaves in Greece were not 
treated badly, — as a rule, that is, for no doubt there were 
some cruel masters. In Sparta all the old people of the 
country, who had been conquered when the Dorian Greeks 
first came, were held in slavery. They were called Helots, 
and were treated so cruelly that at times they broke out in 
rebellion. You have read of the great Helot war, which 
lasted ten years. 

Occupations of the People. — The slaves had to do a 
great part of the work, and most of the free citizens led a 
good, easy life. That was the reason they could give so 
much time to politics, the courts, the theatre, and social life. 
They despised all drudgery, and the principal business of the 
citizens of sea-shore cities, such as Athens and Corinth, Avas 
commerce. No one thought there was disgrace in this, as 
they did about other kinds of work, and the leading people 
of these cities grew wealthy through foreign trade. There 
were stores and shops in Athens, but most of these were 
kept by people of foreign birth, who had large taxes to pay, 
but made much money. 

The Treatment of "Women. — The women in many parts 
of Greece had little more freedom than the slaves. They 
were kept busy in their houses, and were seldom allowed to 
appear in the streets, or even to meet the friends of their 
husbands. Women Avere expected to keep to themselves 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 



171 



and have nothing to do with men except those of their own 
families, and they had very little education. This was not 
the case everywhere. In Sparta, for instance, the women 
had much more freedom. And in Athens and elsewhere 
there was a class of women outside the family circle who 
could do what they pleased and go where they pleased. 
Some of these became famous for their fine powers of intel- 
lect. One of them was Sappho, the celebrated poetess. 

The Greek Dwelling's. — Do you care to know how the 
Greeks lived? The dwellings of wealthy citizens were 




Couch uskd at Meals. 



divided into two parts, one for the men and one for the 
women. In each part there was an open court in the 
centre, often with a fountain, plants, and other ornaments. 
Around this court were the living-apartments. The cooking 
was done in open fire-places, and images of the household 
gods stood beside the hearth. 



172 ANCIENT HISTORY 

Meals and Banquets. — Some of the Greeks had three 
meals daily, but usually they had only two, the principal 
meal being near evening. They did not sit on chairs to eat, 
but reclined on couches before the tables, and ate while 
lying down. Fingers served them for knives and forks, the 
meat being cut up into small pieces, and table-cloths and 
napkins were not used. As a rule, the people were not 
large eaters and their food was simple ; but they were fond 
of banquets or dinner parties, where wine was drunk and 
where they had music, dancing, and other entertainments. 
The women took no part in these banquets. 

Dress of the Greeks. — The dress of the Greeks was a 
simple one, and that of men and women was much alike. 
It consisted of a skirt, long for women, but short for men, 
and a kind of shawl, or loose cloak, worn over it. Nothing 
was worn on the head, except by travellers and some kinds 
of workmen, and everybody went barefoot in the house, 
though sandals or shoes were worn in the streets. 

Education in Greece. — There were no public schools 
like ours in Greece, but there were plenty of private schools, 
and most of the boys got an education. The education of 
the girls was got at home, and it was mostly in housework. 
One important part of the education of boys was in gym- 
nastic exercises, to which the Greeks paid great attention. 
They were trained in wrestling, running, boxing, and other 
athletic sports, so as to make them strong and supple and 
fit them to be soldiers in their frequent wars. Each citizen 
was expected to be a soldier if war should arise. 

The Famous Festivals. — So great was the love of the 
Greeks for games and sports that they had a number of 
grand religious festivals, in which the temple services were 
followed by contests of strength and skill. The most famous 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 173 

of these festivals were the Olym'pic, Pyth'ian, Ne'mean, and 
Isth'mian games, held at different cities in honor of certain 
gods. At these there were contests in athletic sports, and 
also in poetry, oratory, and history. Here the poets read 
their best verses, and artists displayed their noblest works. 

The Olympic Games. — The Olympic were the most 
famous of the games. The date of one of these, held in 
776 b.c, was made the year one of the Greek chronology. 
After that date the names of the victors were carefully kept. 
The Olympic games were held once in every four years. 
They were in honor of Zeus, the supreme god of Greece, 
and were celebrated at Olympus, in the Peloponnesus. The 
games consisted in foot-races, boxing, wrestling, and such 
contests, and later on chariot-racing was introduced and 
became the most popular of all. The victor received a 
simple crown of wild olive, but he gained the greatest 
glory, poets sang his praise, artists made statues of him, and 
the people of his city welcomed him home as though he 
were a conqueror. Sometimes he was worshipped as one 
of the gods. 

How the People spent their Time. — You may wish to 
know how the citizens of Greece, who had so much time on 
their hands, occupied themselves when there were no wars 
or festivals, and when they were not engaged in feasting or 
in the pleasures of the bath and the gymnasium. Well, 
there were other things to do. Many of them were farmers, 
and had their fields and their slaves to look after ; many were 
merchants, and had their ships and store-houses to attend 
to ; and there were also artists and skilled workmen, for 
there was much fine work to do which could not be trusted 
to the hands of slaves. Then there were public offices to be 
filled and the assemblies of the people had to be attended, 



174 ANCIENT HISTORY 

and the law courts called for many jurymen, who were paid 
well for their services. 

Popular Amusements. — Those who had nothing else to 
do amused themselves at the theatre, or enjoyed listening to 
the wise talk of men like Socrates and other philosophers, 
who spent their time in going about and telling the people 
what they thought about everything. So the Greeks — the 
citizens of Athens in particular — found plenty to occupy 
them, and as the climate was mild and pleasant, they spent 
most of their time out-of-doors, where there was much to 
interest or amuse them. 



CHAPTER VIII 
ART, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION 

The Greek Genius in Art. — Art was religion with the 
Greeks, and religion was art. They were a people of mar- 
vellous imagination and of a wonderful sense of beauty. It 
is said that " ugliness gave them pain like a blow." It was 
this love of the beautiful and their keen, clear insight that 
made them the leading artists of all time. When the Greeks 
began to look around the world to see what it held, there 
was plenty of art to be seen ; but it was the heavy, massive 
art of Egypt and Assyria, or the huge, rude stone-work of the 
early people of their own country. This was the kind of art 
to which they went to school, and it was this that they toned 
down into such perfect beauty and grace. 

The Temples of Greece. — The Greeks did not build 
palaces. They had no kings. But they had plenty of gods 
and built many splendid temples. There is nothing in the 
architecture of the earth more beautiful than a Greek tem- 
ple. Nearly all of those now found in Greece were built in 
the period after the Persian war, when there were peace and 
wealth. After the war with Sparta began the Greeks kept 
themselves too poor with their constant fighting to be able 
to build grand temples. 

The Parthenon at Athens. — There were three styles or 
orders of architecture in Greece, known by the kinds of 
columns they used. One was the plain column called the 
Dor'ic, a tall, massive shaft of stone shaped like the huge 
pillars of Egypt. But the Greeks made it graceful, and one 

175 



176 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



of the most famous of temples, the grand Par'thenon, at 
Athens, is built in this style, and is looked upon as the finest 




specimen of Greek architecture. It was ornamented by a 
magnificent group of sculptures, which were the work of 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 



177 



Phi'dias, the greatest of Greek sculptors. This wonderful 
building stood for more than two thousand years. Then, in 
one of their wars, the Turks used it for a powder maga- 




The Theatre of Dionysus at Athens. 
(Modern view.) 

zine, and a bomb fell into the powder, which exploded and 
hurled into ruin more than half this noble work of art. 

The Ionic Architecture. — The second style of architec- 
ture is named the Ion'ic, from the Ionian cities of Asia Minor, 
where it was most used. This has slender, graceful columns, 
with a sort of ram's horn capital — spiral volute is the tech- 
nical term. Of the Ionic temples of Greece, the most cele- 
brated was the famous temple of Dian'a at Eph'esus, in Asia, 

12 



178 ANCIENT HISTORY 

which was begun about 600 b.c. It was burned down on 
the night that Alexander the Great was born, but was built 
again by the Romans. It was a grand building, four hundred 
and twenty-five feet long and two hundred and twenty broad. 

Other Famous Temples. — The third style is the Corin- 
thian, which has a very ornamental capital. It was chiefly 
used for temples to Venus and Flora, and in all buildings 
that called for much delicacy and elegance. Among the 
most famous of the Greek temples was the great Doric build- 
ing at Del 'phi, in which was the most celebrated of the 
oracles. It was burnt down in the year 548 b.c, and from 
all over Greece and Egypt money was sent to rebuild it. 
Here were kept the spoils of battle-fields, the rich gifts of 
kings, and splendid works of art, and it was several times 
plundered by kings and conquerors. 

The Greek Theatre. — Another interesting Greek build- 
ing was the theatre. The most noted of these was the great 
theatre at Athens, the seats of which were cut in the rock 
on the sloping hill of the Acropolis and were large enough 
to hold thirty thousand people. All the other Greek theatres 
were like this, situated out-of-doors, on hill-sides, with a 
building in front for the stage and scenery. 

The Greeks were very fond of theatrical entertainments, 
tragedy and comedy alike. There were many actors of fine 
powers, and also strolling companies who wandered about 
the country, playing in the cart which carried them and their 
costumes. It was in such strolling companies as these that 
the art of the drama first began, and the early plays were 
very simple affairs. 

The Famous Artists. — The land of Greece had many 
famous sculptors and painters. The paintings are all lost, 
but many statues in bronze and marble exist, and the whole 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 179 

world has nothing more graceful and beautiful. Phidias, 
who worked on the Parthenon, is the most famous of the 
sculptors. His greatest work was the statue of Zeus, or 
Jupiter, the king of the gods. This was a figure made of 
ivory and gold, seated on a throne, and sixty feet high. 
The eyes were brilliant precious stones, and there were 
many costly gems in the throne. It lasted for eight hundred 
years and then was destroyed by fire. Among the other 
sculptors, one of the best known is Praxit'iles, who made 
beautiful statues of the goddess Venus. There are inter- 
esting stories of the painters, — how one painted a bunch of 
grapes so naturally that the birds came and picked at them ; 
and another painted a curtain which his rival asked him to 
draw aside that he might see the picture. No Greek paint- 
ings exist, so we cannot see for ourselves these wonderful 
grapes and this famous curtain. 

RELIGION OF THE GREEKS. 

Art and Religion. — It may be seen that the art and the 
religion of the Greeks came very close together. The grand 
buildings were temples to the gods, and the finest statues 
were figures of Venus and other deities. So what has been 
said about art brings us at once to talk about religion. 

The Gods of Greece. — The ancient Greeks were very 
religious. They had enough gods to make a small city, and 
believed that these deities were all around them, in the woods 
and the streams, the mountains and the sea. It seemed 
almost as if they could not turn without meeting one. 
There were great gods and small gods, gods of the wind and, 
the waves, of wine and of water, of the groves and the 
fields, the hills and the streams, dryads and nymphs, and 
satyrs with the feet and tail of a goat. 



180 ANCIENT HISTORY 

What the Greek Gods were like. — Those were not the 
monstrous figures of Egyptian and Assyrian fancy, — men with 
the heads of brutes, or huge animals with human heads. The 
Greek love of beauty would not let them think of such fig- 
ures as these. All, except the goat-footed woodland deities, 
were men and women, often of the greatest beauty or high- 
est dignity. 

The Gods of Olympus. — There were twelve of the great 
gods, whose home was on the top of Mount Olympus, a lofty, 
snow-clad mountain in the north of Greece, on whose sum- 
mit Zeus (Zuse) — or Jupiter, as the Romans called him — 
had his palace, while the other great gods and goddesses 
dwelt around him. There are both Greek and Roman 
names for these gods, so that we speak of A' res or Mars, 
the god of war ; Aphrodi'te or Ve'nus, the goddess of love 
and beauty ; Athe'na or Miner' va, the goddess of wisdom ; 
He'ra or Ju'no, the wife of Zeus ; Ar'temis or Dian'a, the 
goddess of hunting ; Apol'lon or Apol'lo, the god of music 
and song, and various others. Zeus was the king of the 
gods, but he was not an absolute king, for the other gods 
seemed to do very much as they pleased. 

Other Deities. — In addition to these twelve great gods 
whose home was in the clouds of Olympus, there were 
multitudes of gods and goddesses on the earth and in the 
waters, including Diony'sus, or Bac'chus, the god of wine ; 
Flor'a, the goddess of flowers ; the Muses, the Graces, and 
hundreds of others. The lord of the ocean was Posei'don, 
or Nep'tune, the brother of Jupiter ; and Ha'des, or Plu'to, 
ruled over the world of the dead. 

Stories about the Gods. — The Greeks had many stories 
about their deities. The gods and goddesses seemed like so 
many men and women, wandering about and having strange 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 



181 



or amusing adventures, and often meddling in the affairs of 
men. The tales told about them are enough to fill a book, 
and to read them one would think that the Greeks had a 
very poor opinion of their gods, for they did not mind play- 







Lycukgus consulting the Oracle. 



ing tricks or telling lies, or fighting and cheating, or doing 
other bad and dishonest things. 

The Mode ofWorship. — But the Greeks feared them and 
worshipped them, mostly by sacrifices, which were made by 
priests in the open air or on mountain-tops, in groves, for- 
ests, or temples. Many animals were killed in the sacrifices, 
and offerings were made of fruits, wine, honey, milk, and 
other foods. The great games were intended as festivals to 
the gods, and there were splendid plays at the theatres in 
honor of Bacchus. 



182 ANCIENT HISTORY 

The Delphic Oracle. — Another feature of the Greek reli- 
gion was what were called oracles, in which the gods were 
supposed to speak and to predict future events. There 
were many oracles of Apollo, of which the most famous 
was that of the great temple of Delphi. Here there arose 
from the ground a mysterious vapor, which threw the priest- 
ess into a kind of trance, in which she gave the answer of 
the god to the questions of men. 

GREEK LITERATURE. 

The Famous "Writers of Greece. — If it be asked what 
made the Greeks so famous both in ancient and in modern 
times, some would say it was their art, others would say it 
was their literature. While the world has nothing more 
noble and beautiful than their works of art, the same may 
be said about their writings, or works of literature. They 
were the greatest thinkers and the most graceful and beau- 
tiful writers of all the ancient days, and we must say some- 
thing about their great authors, the best of whose works 
have been preserved. 

Homer, the Great Epic Poet. — There is no more beauti- 
ful poetry than that of the Greeks, for they were a people 
of warm and lofty imagination, while their sense of beauty 
taught them how to say the best things in the best way. 
The first of their poets of whom we know anything was 
the famous bard named Ho'mer, who wrote in splendid 
verse the story of the siege of Troy and the wanderings of 
the heroes who took part in it. He wrote more than two 
thousand five hundred years ago, yet many still think him 
one of the greatest poets that ever lived. 

Homer and Hesiod. — Homer tells us about the deeds 
of the heroes and the gods, and He'siod, who came 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 



183 




Homer, the Bard of 
the Iliad. 



soon after, tells us about the life of the common people 
and the doings of peasants and farmers in those far-off 
times ; so, from these two old poets 
we learn much of the manners and 
customs of the Greeks in their early, 
half-barbarous days. 

Famous Song- -Writers. — After 
these great writers of epic or narra- 
tive poetry there came many noble 
song-writers. One of the chief of 
these was the charming poetess 
Sappho (saffo), who sang of love 
and was called by Alcaeus (Al-se'us), 
another famous poet, the " violet- 
crowned, pure, sweetly smiling Sap- 
pho. 1 ' Another was Anac'reon, who 
sang of love and wine and festive sports with the utmost 
grace and beauty. There were many other fine lyric poets, 
but the most esteemed of them all was Pin'dar, whom 
the Greeks thought the most sublime of all their singers. 
He lived in Thebes, and so highly was he thought of that 
when Alexander, a hundred years after he died, ordered 
that city to be torn down, he bade his men to leave the 
house of Pindar stand unharmed. 

The Great Dramatists. — At a later time, after the art of 
the theatre was learned, the most famous of the Greek poets 
spent their time in writing plays. There were many of 
these, but we have the writings of only four of them. By 
good fortune these four are the most famous of them all. 
Three of them, named JEs'chylus, Soph'ocles, and Eurip'- 
ides, were writers of tragedy, and the fourth, Aristoph'anes, 
was the most celebrated of old writers of comedy. The 



184 ANCIENT HISTORY 

Greek play was very different from ours; Everything had 
to be shown as if the action were confined to one place 
and completed in a few hours, and all else had to be told 
to the audience by the chorus, a body of singers who sat 
where the orchestra now sits. 

The Famous Historians. — But the Greek literature was 
not all poetry. There was much prose-writing, including 
history, philosophy, and other topics. The first of the 
famous writers of history was Herod' otus, who is called the 
"Father of History." He travelled in Egypt and Babylonia 
and Persia, and tells us in a delightful way much about life 
and society in those countries and of events in Greece. He 
was the great story-teller of the past. Another charming 
historian was Xenophon, who led the "Ten Thousand" out 
of Persia, and who told the story of their travels and wrote 
other works. So clear and fresh and charming is his 
writing that he has been called the "Attic bee." The 
greatest of the historians was Thucydides (Thu-sid'i-deez), 
who wrote about the war between Athens and Sparta in a 
dignified and philosophic way. He did not have the flow- 
ing style of the others named, but he was much more of 
a true historian. 

The Orators of Greece. — We must also speak of the 
orators, for many of their orations were splendid works of 
literature, which they wrote with the utmost care and pains. 
One of them spent two years in writing and polishing a 
single speech. Per'icles Avas the first of the famous orators, 
and we still have one of his best speeches, which is cer- 
tainly very beautiful. But the most celebrated orators came 
later, the best of them being Lys'ias, Isoc'rates, Isse'us, 
Demos'thenes, Hyper'ides, and iEs'chines. The most famous 
of them all, and, as many think, the finest orator the world 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 



185 




has ever known, was Demosthenes, the great opponent of 
Philip of Macedon. Never have human ears heard a nobler 
speech than that which he made against iEschines, one of 
the supporters of Philip. 

The Great Philosophers. — We have spoken of the Greek 
philosophers. There were many of them, wise men and 
deep thinkers, who had little faith in the 
gods of Greece and tried to explain all 
things under the laws of nature. Most 
celebrated among them were Soc'rates, 
Pla'to, and Ar'istotle, but there were 
others of high renown. Socrates did not 
trouble himself about the laws of nature, 
but talked of the good, the true, and the 
beautiful, and tried to bring men to the 
love of virtue. He talked everywhere 
and to everybody, and made many ene- 
mies as well as many friends. His enemies said that he did 
not believe in the gods and taught bad doctrines, so he was 
tried and condemned to death, and had to drink poison. 
But he drank it as calmly as if it had been wine, for he had 
no fear of death. 

Plato and Aristotle. — Plato was one of the deepest 
thinkers and most beautiful writers among the philosophers, 
for he had the soul of a poet as well as the mind of a 
thinker. He was a pupil of Socrates, and has given us 
many of the sayings of that great and good man. Plato 
had a school of philosophy, and wrote his lectures in the 
form of dialogues, in which Socrates was the chief speaker. 
One of his pupils was Aristotle, who opened a school called 
the Lyce'um, and was the teacher of Alexander the Great. 
He had not the poetic style of Plato, but knew all the learn- 



SOCEATES. 



186 ANCIENT HISTORY 

ing of that time and wrote on a great many subjects. He 
lectured while walking about under the trees, so his school 
was called the Peripatet'ic, from a Greek word meaning to 
walk about. 

The Greek Scientists. — Aristotle was the first famous 
Greek scientist. He was a great observer, and wrote much 
about the principles of nature. Alexander the Great, when 
he made his expedition through Asia, sent him large numbers 
of animals and plants for his studies. In later years there 
were a number of famous scientists at Alexandria, who 
studied astronomy and mathematics. The best known among 
these were Eu'clid, Hippar'chus, and Ptol'emy. 

Athens the Seat of Learning-. — When Rome became 
the great power among the nations Greece remained the 
centre of learning, and Athens was still the seat of all the 
finest work of the intellect. There were many writers in 
these later years, and the best authors of Rome made the 
Greeks their models. Thus the literature of Greece kept alive 
until all learning disappeared under the deep cloud of 
ignorance of the Dark Ages. 

SUMMARY OF GRECIAN HISTORY. 

Migration of Grecian tribes, about or before . . . 1200 b.c. 

Dorian migration, about 1100 " 

Greek- colonies founded in Asia Minor 1000 " 

Lycurgus (the Spartan law-maker) 850 " 

Messenian and Spartan wars 743-668 " 

Solon gives new laws to Athens 594 " 

Pisistratus becomes dictator at Athens 560 " 

Cleisthenes and his reforms 510 " 

Ionian colonies of Asia Minor in revolt against Persia 500 " 

The Persians invade Greece 492 " 

Defeat of the Persians at Marathon 490 " 

Xerxes and his army 480 " 



GREECE AND MACEDONIA 187 

Naval defeat of Persians at Salamis 480 B.C. 

The Spartans at Thermopylae 480 

The Greek victory at Plataea 479 

Brilliant period of Athenian history under 

Pericles 470-431 

The Peloponnesian war 431-404 

The defeat of Nicias . . 413 

The Spartans capture Athens 404 

Socrates put to death 399 

Athens regains her naval power 394 

Thebes defeats Sparta and gains supremacy . . . 362 

Philip of Macedon invades and conquers Greece . 338 
Alexander the Great subdues the Persian Empire 334-331 

Alexander invades India ; dies at Babylon .... 323 

The Achaean and ^Etolian leagues . 243 

Philopcemoii defeats the Spartans 207 

Roman victory over the Macedonian king at Cynos- 

cephalae 197 

Macedonia becomes a Roman province 168 

Greece absorbed by Rome 146 

Alexander's empire in Asia broken up into minor 

kingdoms ; Rome conquers them all but Parthia 

and Bactria (which is absorbed by Parthia). 

Parthian kingdom 255 b.c.-226 a.d 

New Persian empire • . . . . . „ 226 " 



SECTION III.— ROME 

CHAPTER I 

THE CITY AND ITS PEOPLE 

The Southern Peninsulas of Europe. — The map of 
Europe shows us at the south the great sea called the Medi- 
terranean, flowing far inland from the Atlantic Ocean to the 
shores of Asia and dividing Europe from Africa. Into this 
sea Europe sends down three peninsulas, Greece in the east, 
Italy in the centre, and Spain in the west. It is with the 
peninsula of Italy that we are here concerned, — the long, 
boot-shaped stretch of land that comes downward from the 
Alpine mountains and nearly touches the island of Sicily 
with its toe. 

A Famous City. — In Italy there was built in far past 
times a city named Rome, and this city grew to be the centre 
of the greatest empire the world had ever known. It is for 
this reason that we are so interested in the history of the 
long and narrow tongue of land which spreads out on each 
side from the backbone of mountains called the Apennines. 

Early History of Italy. — If we attempt to discover the 
early history of Italy we seem to be gazing on a dense 
cloud, with faint shadows showing through it. During those 
thousands of years in which Egypt and Babylonia were 
flourishing states, Italy was the home of savages or bar- 
barians who were far too ignorant to make any history. 
And long after the active and enterprising people of Greece 

188 



ROME 189 

began to make themselves well known the tribes of Italy 
were still lost in the clouds of obscurity. 

The Grecian Colonies. — When did the cloud first begin 
to lift ? That is not easy to say. The ships of the Phoeni- 
cians may have borne the first rays of the sun of civiliza- 
tion to the shores of Italy. Long afterwards came the ships 
of Greece and founded colonies in the south of the long 
peninsula. It was when Rome was an insignificant little 
town, just started on the first of its seven hills, that the 
Greeks built in Italy the cities of Taren'tum, Syb'aris, and 
Croto'na, all of which were to become rich and famous ; 
and on the neighboring island of Sicily they founded the 
city of Syr'acuse, which grew to be large and powerful 
enough to defeat the army and fleet of Athens, as you have 
read in the history of that city. 

How Civilization spread. — -These Grecian cities were 
like so many seeds of civilization planted deep in the soil of 
Italy, and no doubt the merchant ships of Greece sent their 
traders wandering far through that land, seeking to buy 
and sell, but also teaching the Italian tribes many things 
they had never known. At any rate, before Rome was 
founded, there was in central Italy a country called Etru'ria, 
inhabited by a people called the Etrus'cans, who had many 
cities and knew a good deal about the arts of civilization. 
They were merchants too, and they seem to have learned 
much from the Greeks. 

The Latin Tribes. — There were other people in Italy be- 
sides the Greeks and the Etruscans. The most important 
of these were the Lat'ins, who dwelt in central Italy, south 
of the Tiber River. It is not likely there were very many 
of these Latins in early times, but they were to grow into a 
mighty nation and become the ruling people of the world. 



190 ANCIENT HISTORY 

In many ways the Latins were like the Greeks. They be- 
longed to the same race, the Aryan, and they resembled the 
Greeks in religion, in language, and in many of their man- 
ners and customs. 

Alba Long-a and Rome. — Where the Latins came from, 
or how long they dwelt in Italy before the world began to 
learn about them, no one knows. When we first hear of 
them we are told that they had thirty towns, the chief of 
which was named Alba Longa, the " Long White City." 
They were troubled by the warlike Etruscans, whose country 
lay just north of Lat'ium, and to defend themselves the 
thirty towns united into the Latin League. Also a colony 
was sent from Alba Longa to build a sort of outpost city 
near the Etruscan border, on a low hill on the south bank 
of the Tiber, about fifteen miles from the sea. To this place 
was given the name of Rome. 

Rome in its First Days. — Rome was founded, as we are 
told by the Romans, in the year 733 b.c, which was twenty- 
three years after the year 1 of the Greek era. At that time 
civilization had made much progress in Greece, but the 
Latins were little better than barbarians, and Rome was a 
miserable little town, made up of about a thousand rude 
thatched huts, round which a wall had been built. It 
served as a sort of fort for the shepherds and farmers who 
were abroad in their fields or with their flocks during the 
day, but came back within the walls at night. They had to 
do this for fear of their warlike neighbors. 

The Story of Romulus and Remus. — This is about all 
we know of the founding of Rome from history. If we go 
to tradition we meet with a fanciful story, which no doubt 
contains much more poetry than fact. That is the way with 
all the stories of early Rome. As they do not belong to 



ROME 191 

sober history, we shall give only this one story as a sample. 
We are told of two brothers named Rom/iilus and Re'mus, 
whose mother was a priestess and whose father was Mars, 
the god of war. They were of the royal blood of Alba, 
and the king, who had taken the throne from an older king, 
their grandfather, ordered them to be thrown into the Tiber. 
There are many such stories in history. You have read 
those of King Sargon and Cyrus of Persia. They all end in 
much the same way. This time the kind river threw the 
boys ashore at the foot of Mount Palatine, where they were 
nursed by a wolf and found and brought up by a shep- 
herd. 

The Victory of Romulus. — When the royal children grew 
up they learned in some way their true rank. They killed 
the usurper and put their grandfather back on the throne. 
Then they decided to build a city near the spot where 
the river had thrown them ashore, and agreed to select the 
site by watching the flight of birds. Remus stood on the 
Aventine hill and saw six vultures ; Romulus stood on the 
Palatine and saw twelve. As Romulus had won, he har- 
nessed a bullock and, a heifer to a plough of brass and 
marked out the boundaries of his city. But Remus was 
jealous of his brother's victory, and as the walls were being 
built he jumped over them in scorn ; whereupon the angry 
Romulus drew his sword and struck him dead. 

How the Romans got Wives. — This is only a part of 
the story. There is much more of it. Thus we are told 
that the first Romans got wives by inviting the neighboring 
Sabines to a festival and then seizing and carrying off their 
maiden daughters. And there is a story of war with the 
Sabines and how the new wives made peace between their 
kindred and their husbands, and how Romulus ruled long, 



192 ANCIENT HISTORY 

and finally vanished during a violent storm and was wor- 
shipped as a god. 

The Legends of Early Rome. — If any of you read the 
older histories of Rome you will find many such stories as 
this. But it is now believed that they are not history at 
all, but only legend and tradition, like the multitude of stories 
about their gods and heroes told us by the Greeks. It is not 
likely that they are entirely false, but there is so much fable 
mixed with the truth that we do not know what to believe, 
so these romantic old stories must stay untold. More than 
three hundred years after Rome was founded the city was 
taken by a barbarian people called the Gauls, who burned it 
with all its old records ; so its true early history is lost and 
we have only what the poets and the story-tellers have sent 
down to us. 

The Division of the People. — Nearly all we know is 
that in early times Rome was governed by kings, who seem 
to have had much power over the people. Some of them 
were good, but others were tyrants. Under the king was 
the senate, or " council of the old men, 1 ' who gave advice to 
the king which he could take or not as he pleased. The 
senate lasted till the end of the history of Rome. Then 
there was the popular assembly, like that of Greece, which 
elected the king, made the laws; and decided upon peace or 
war. This was made up of the members of the Patrician 
(pa-trish'an) or noble families. There was another class 
called Plebeians who were given no political rights at all, 
though they were freemen and could hold property. Then 
there were the clients, people not quite free, but under the 
control of the Patricians. And lastly there were the slaves. 
Most of these were prisoners taken in war, and in time they 
became very numerous. More than once they rebelled and 



ROME 193 

gave the Romans as much trouble as the Helots gave the 
Spartans. 

The Patricians and Plebeians. — You may not find all 
this very interesting, but it is all important, for you should 
know something of the political conditions of a people who 
made such a mark in history. You must, above all, know 
about the Patricians and the Plebeians, whose quarrels had 
much to do with the history of the city. There were three 
tribes who made up the first settlers of Rome, and it was 
the descendants of these who were called Patricians and 
held all the political rights. The people who came after- 
wards, and there were many of them as the city grew, were 
the Plebeians. They had no political rights whatever in the 
early days, but they got the same rights as the Patricians after 
centuries of struggle. 

The Growth of Rome. — In the story of old Rome we read 
of six kings, who reigned nearly two centuries and a half. 
We do not know much about what they did, except that 
they made Rome the leading city in the Latin state, until it 
spread far beyond its old wall, and was surrounded by a 
new wall, seven miles long, which brought within it the 
famous " Seven Hills" of Rome. This shows that Rome 
grew to be large and powerful in the times of the kings, for 
Rome was surrounded by this wall for many hundred years. 
One great piece of work done by the kings was to build the 
Cloaca Maxima, or " Great Sewer," to drain some marshy 
ground. It was so strongly built that it still stands and 
does the work of a sewer, though fully two thousand five 
hundred years old. They also built the Capitol, in which 
were altars to their chief gods, and laid out the Circus 
Maxim us, or " Great Circus," where their chariot-races were 
held. 

13 



194 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



A New Division of the People. — One of the later 
kings, named Ser'vius Tul'lius, made a great stir among the 
Patricians, for he divided the people up according to the 
property they owned, without caring to what tribe they be- 
longed. Five classes were made, of which the wealthiest 
had the most power, and the others had each its share of 
power. Those without property had no voice in the govern- 
ment, and there may have been Patricians as well as 
Plebeians among these. 

The Last of the Kings. — The last king, Tar'quinus 
Super'bus, or Tarquin the Proud, was a tyrant whom all 
the people hated. But he was left on the throne until, as 
legend tells us, his son committed a monstrous crime. Then 
the people rose in rebellion and drove the Tarquins out of 
the city, and after that there were no more kings. King 
Tarquin went to war and fought hard to get back, but he 
did not succeed. The people hated the very name of king, 
and they swore that no king should ever rule over them 
again. This was done in the year 509 b.c. 





Consul between Two Laurel-Crowned 

Fasces. 



Fasces. 



The Consuls follow the Kings. — For centuries after 
this the struggle between the Patricians and the Plebeians 
was kept up. It is a long story, but we shall cut it short 
and give only its main points. After the Romans got rid of 



ROME 195 

their kings they chose two chief magistrates who were called 
consuls, and were elected for only one year. They came 
from the Patricians, and each took his turn in ruling, while 
both were generals of the army. For centuries after that 
Rome was governed by its consuls. 

The Secession of the Debtors. — In Rome, as in Greece, 
debtors could be sold into slavery. You have read how 
the wise Solon did away with this in Athens. In Rome the 
war that followed the driving out of Tarquin the Proud 
caused such distress that great numbers of the Plebeians fell 
into debt and were held as slaves. This grew so bad that 
the people would not bear it any longer, and in the year 
494 b.c. all the Plebeians left Rome and went to a hill called 
the Sacred Mount, four miles away, where they began to 
build a new city, for they were tired of being held as slaves. 
The haughty Patricians were now in a panic. They soon 
found that they could not get along without the poor any 
more than the head can get along without the hands, and 
they asked the seceders to come back, agreeing that no 
more debtors should be sold into slavery. 

The Power of the Tribunes. — -The freeing of the slaves 
was not all. The people wanted to be protected, and two 
magistrates called tribunes were appointed to look out for 
their rights and guard them against injustice. The per- 
sons of the tribunes were to be held sacred. Whoever 
interfered with them in their duties was outlawed, and any 
one could kill him. Afterwards the two tribunes were in- 
creased to ten, who were elected every year. If the senate 
passed a law likely to injure the Plebeians, the tribunes had 
the power to set it aside with the word Veto, " I forbid it." 
The poor had made a great gain in getting the tribunes to 
defend them. 



196 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



The Laws of the Twelve Tables. — But there were laws 
for this and laws for that, until it got to be hard to tell what 
was the law for anything, so a strong demand was made for a 
written and regular code of laws, which any one could read 
and understand. There was much quarrelling over this, 
but in the year 451 b.c. a Council of Ten, called decem'virs 
(" ten men"), was appointed to make a new set of laws. The 
laws they made were called the Twelve Tables, which were 
the basis of the laws of Rome ever after that. They were 
written on tablets of brass and hung up where any one 
could see and read them. Every school-boy in Rome had 
to learn these laws by heart. 

Tyranny of the Decemvirs. — While the decemvirs were 
at work on the new laws they were given full control 

of everything, the consuls 
and tribunes giving up their 
offices during this time. The 
decemvirs liked their power 
so well that they would not 
give it up when the laws 
were made, and they became 
such tyrants that soon no 
liberty was left. The senate 
and Patricians helped them 
in this, but one of them 
committed so terrible a 
crime that the Plebeians 
again left the city and went 
to the Sacred Mount. 

The Plebeians g-ain Full 
Rights. — This put an end to the rule of the tyrants, and the 
Plebeians gained some new rights before they would come 




A Roman Consul in his Official Robes. 



ROME 197 

back. But the people were still not satisfied. They wanted 
equal rights in all offices, and the struggle was kept up for a 
century and a half longer. The Patricians tried hard to 
retain their supremacy, and resorted to tricks of various 
kinds to keep down the Plebeians and hold all the important 
offices. But the people persisted in their demands, and 
won the right to occupy office after office, until (300 b.c.) 
they had won equal rights with the Patricians, and for the 
first time Rome possessed a true democratic government, 
in which all could vote and the poorest could hold the 
highest positions in the state. 



CHAPTER II 
THE EARLY ROMAN WARS 

The City in Ancient Times. — There is one very inter- 
esting fact in ancient history which we do not find in modern 
history. This is that the city is the great element in national 
life. The city counts for everything, the country for nothing. 
Look, for instance, at the histories of Babylonia and Assyria. 
They have to do only with cities and their stories. It was 
the same in Greece, where we seem to hear more about the 
city than about its people. It was especially the case in 
Rome. In Greece three cities struggled for supremacy and 
none of them held it very long. But in Rome we have to 
do with one city only, which became lord and master of the 
civilized world, and held this position for centuries. Very 
much of the history of Rome is made up in showing how 
one city gained such vast dominion. 

The Story of Coriolanus. — Just here we must stop and 
tell the story of two Romans of the early times. These 
belong to the legends of Rome, but they may have much 
truth in them, and are well worth reading. The first is the 
story of a general named Coriola'nus. He was a proud 
patrician who had won victories over the Volscians (Vol'she- 
ans), which gave him great influence in Rome. He used his 
power to try and rob the people of their rights. When a 
time of famine came he insisted that no corn should be 
given to the people unless they gave up their privileges. 
This made the plebeians very angry, and the tribunes of the 
people had him banished. Filled with fury, he went to his 

198 



ROME 199 

old enemies, the Volscians, and led their army against Rome. 
There was no army to meet him, and some of the senators 
and the priests were sent to his camp to try and get him to 
spare the city. He would not listen to them, but when his 
mother, wife, and children were sent to his camp and 
begged him to be merciful his pride gave way. " Mother, 
thou hast saved Rome, but lost thy son, 1 ' he said, and led his 
army away. He was right, for the Volscians soon killed him. 

Cincinnatus and his Farm. — A little later comes the 
story of another hero of legend named Cincinna'tus, a 
famous man who has given his name to one of our Ameri- 
can cities. He, too, was a patrician, but he lived on a small 
farm, which he worked with his own hands. He was known 
to be an able soldier and statesman, and one time the 
Romans made him consul and another time dictator. A 
dictator, you should know, had the power to set aside all 
laws, and was appointed only when Rome was in great 
danger. This time (458 b.c.) the ^E'quians had got a 
Roman army shut up in a narrow valley, from which it 
could not escape. The senate felt that no one but Cincin- 
natus could save the army, and sent envoys for him, who 
found him at work ploughing on his little farm. But he 
dropped the plough, raised an army, and marched on the 
^Equians, who soon found themselves between two armies 
and had to submit. Cincinnatus then led his army back to 
Rome, gave up his great power, and went back to his farm. 
He loved his fields more than he did power. In that way 
he was like our own Washington. 

The Siege of Veii. — Now let us go on to the story of the 
wars of Rome. The nearest people to Rome were the Etrus- 
cans, and there was much figthing with them. Very likely 
they conquered Rome at one time, for the last three kings 



200 ANCIENT HISTORY 

were men of Etruscan birth. But in 396 b.c. the Romans 
conquered Veii, a large city of Etru'ria. They had besieged 
it for ten years, and it seemed as if they could never take it, 
when a general named Fu'rius Camil'lus caused a tunnel to 
be dug under the citadel. Through this the soldiers made 
their way in and the city was taken. The Romans captured 
many other Etruscan cities and won so much spoil that 
Rome grew far more rich and important than ever before. It 
was now master of all Latium and also of much of Etruria. 

The Coming of the Gauls. — Six years after Veii was taken 
an event happened which threatened to sweep the city of 
Rome from the face of the earth. Long before that the 
rude tribes from the west, known as Gauls, had crossed 
the Alps and settled in Northern Italy. These wild bar- 
barians now began to move southward, conquering all before 
them. They marched into Etruria, where they did much 
harm, and from there they advanced on Rome. A Roman 
army met them on the banks of the river Al'lia, eleven 
miles away, but it was utterly defeated, and Bren'nus, the 
leader of the Gauls, led his army to the Roman city. 

The Gauls in Rome. — When the fugitives from the battle- 
field came rushing back to the city with news of the disas- 
ter, there was a terrible panic in Rome. The sacred vessels 
of the temples were buried, the holy fire was carried away, 
and most of the people fled. When the Gauls entered the 
city they found no one except eighty aged senators, who sat 
in the For'um, or place of assembly, in their ivory chairs and 
in their robes of state. The fierce invaders soon murdered 
these venerable men, and then they pillaged and burned the 
city. 

The Sacred Geese. — But the Romans had not all fled. 
A party of them held the Capitol, which stood on a rocky 



ROME 



201 



hill, and they defended it so well that the Gauls were kept 
besieging it for months. According to the story they came 
very near taking it at one time. They had found a narrow 
path on the steep hill, and climbed up nearly to the top. 
The guards were all asleep, and the place seemed doomed. 
But in the temple of Juno, on the summit, were kept a 
number of sacred geese, and these now began to cackle so 
loudly that they woke the garrison. Mar'cus Man'lius, the 
commander, was the first to reach the edge of the rock, 
where he flung down the Gauls who had just reached the 
top. Others quickly followed him and the Capitol was saved. 




Camillits leading his Army to Rome. 



"Weighing the Gold. — A fatal sickness broke out among 
the Gauls and many of them died, so in the end they agreed 
to leave the city if the Romans would give them a thousand 
pounds of gold. The Romans agreed, but while the gold 
was being weighed in the Forum they complained that the 
Gauls were using false weights. Hearing this, Brennus cast 
his sword into the scale, fiercely crying out, "Woe to the 
vanquished !" But at this moment Camillus, the conqueror 



202 ANCIENT HISTORY 

of Veii, made his appearance with an army and came into 
the Forum. " Rome is ransomed with steel and not with 
gold, 1 ' he said, and ordered the gold to be carried away. 
Then he attacked the Gauls and defeated them with great 
slaughter. 

Rome a Ruin. — It is not likely that all this story is true. 
Part of it may have been invented to please Roman pride. 
Another story says that the Gauls carried away the gold, and 
that some of it was taken from them more than a hundred 
years afterwards. All we can be sure of is that Rome was 
left in ruins and that its public records were destroyed. It 
is due to this that we have very little we can believe of the 
earlier history of Rome. 

The City is rebuilt. — When the Gauls had gone and the 
Romans came back they were in a state of despair. Their 
homes were in ashes and their cattle and crops were de- 
stroyed. Some of the poorer ones wanted to leave that 
dismal place and make Veii their city. But most of the 
people loved the hills of Rome, and at once began to rebuild 
their homes, as the people of Athens had done after their 
city was burned by the Persians. The city soon rose again 
on its old site, and it was not long before Rome was 
supreme, as before, among the near-by states. 

The Growth of Rome. — We have seen Rome growing and 
"gaining power, but as yet it was famous only among the people 
near at hand. Its great career did not begin until fifty years 
after the Gauls had gone. The new city, no doubt, had be- 
come large and important, but civilization had not made 
much progress in it, and the people were little better than 
barbarians still. They knew little and cared little about art 
and literature, but they were fond of war, and their armies 
were so well organized that they generally won. 



ROME 203 

Samnite and Latin "Wars. — In the Apennine Mountains, 
east of Latium, there was a nation of rough and warlike moun- 
taineers called the Sam'nites. In the year 343 b.c. Rome 
went to war with these. The Samnites were defeated with 
immense slaughter, and forced to make peace after two years 
of fighting. While this war was going on the Latin cities 
rebelled, and it took three years of hard fighting to bring 
them back under the power of Rome. The old Latin 
League was now broken up, but the cities would not sub- 
mit till they were given some of those rights of which the 
haughty Romans had deprived them. 

Romans under the Yoke. — There were two more wars 
with the Samnites. The first of these lasted about twenty 
years and ended in victory for Rome. But the proud 
Romans suffered a disgrace which they did not soon forget. 
An army of Romans became cooped up in a narrow valley 
called the Cau'dine Forks. They could not escape, and 
there was no Cincinnatus now to rescue them as in the case 
of the ^Equians, so they had to surrender and were made to 
pass under the yoke. The yoke was made by placing two 
spears upright and another across them at the top, so low 
that all the soldiers had to bend in going under it. Cincin- 
natus had niade the iEquians pass under the yoke, but now 
the Romans suffered the same disgrace themselves. 

The League against Rome. — By this time the nations 
of Italy were growing much alarmed at the victories of the 
Romans. They felt that they must defend themselves or 
they might all be lost. So the Samnites made an alliance 
with the Etruscans, the Umbrians, the Gauls, and other 
nations, and began war with the hope of crushing the con- 
quering city on the Tiber. This war lasted about three 
years. It ended in the greatest victory which Rome had 



204 ANCIENT HISTORY 

yet gained. In 295 b.c. the Romans met the allies near 
Senti'num, in Um/bria, and gave them a crushing defeat. 
This battle had much to do with making Rome master of 
Italy, and one writer calls it one of the " Decisive Battles of 
the World." 

Tarentum and the Greeks. — While these Roman wars 
were going on Alexander the Great was winning his famous 
victories and founding the Macedonian Empire, and Rome 
was soon to feel the hand of Greece and face the Macedonian 
phalanx. In the south of Italy was the city of Tarentum, one 
of the old Greek colonies. The people of Tarentum were 
proud and haughty, and they sank some Roman vessels and 
insulted an envoy from Rome. The senate at once declared 
war against this city, and Tarentum, not being strong enough 
to face the Roman power, asked for help from the mother 
country. Pyr'rhus, King of Epi'rus, came to their aid 
with twenty-five thousand men and twenty war-elephants. 
He was a cousin of Alexander the Great and one of the 
best generals of Greece, and he had the fancy of found- 
ing an empire in the west as Alexander had done in the 
east. 

Pyrrhus and the Romans. — Pyrrhus looked oh the Ro- 
mans as rude barbarians, and thought he would soon put 
them down, but when he met their army and saw how skil- 
fully it was drawn up, he said, " In war, at least, these 
people are not barbarians. ,, But the Romans had never 
faced the Macedonian phalanx, with its hedge of spears, and 
when the huge u gray oxen, 1 ' as the Romans called the 
elephants, came rushing down on them, they broke and fled. 
Pyrrhus had won the victory, but it was a costly one, for 
many of his best troops and some of his ablest officers had 
fallen. When he looked on the dead Romans, and saw that 



ROME 



205 



their wounds were all in front, he remarked : u If I had 
soldiers like these I could easily conquer the world." 

Peace is refused. — Pyrrhus advanced within eighteen 
miles of Rome, and here offered his foes a treaty of peace ; 




Roman General and Standard-Beakers. 

but they said they would not make peace while he was on 
Italian soil. "Rome," they said, "shall never treat with a 
victorious enemy." So the war went on, and the next year 
the Romans were defeated again, though once more Pyrrhus 
lost heavily. 

Pyrrhus leaves Italy. — After that Pyrrhus crossed over 
to Sicily to help the Greeks there in their struggle against the 
armies of Carthage. After staying there for two years he 
returned to Tarentum. The Romans were ready for him, 
and another desperate battle was fought, at Beneven'tum, in 
Sam'nium. The Romans no longer feared the elephants, as 



206 ANCIENT HISTORY 

they had done at first. They met them with fire-brands, 
which drove these huge beasts back in terror on the Grecian 
lines. The Romans followed with their swords, and Pyr- 
rhus met with a terrible defeat, nearly all his army being 
destroyed. With that the hope of Pyrrhus to found an 
empire in the west came to an end, and he went back in 
sorrow to Greece with the few men he had left. Soon after 
he had gone (272 b.c.) Tarentum surrendered to the Romans. 
While all this was going on the other Greek colonies were 
conquered and the peoples of the centre and north of Italy 
submitted to the Romans, so that Rome became mistress of 
all Italy south of the country held by the Gauls. 

The Roman Military Genius. — The Romans, as you may 
see, had great military genius. It was not only that they 
were brave and daring, for there were many others who 
were quite as brave, but that they never gave up, never 
yielded to defeat, but kept on fighting till they wore out 
their antagonists. You will see more of this as you read on. 
And apart from their greatness on the battle-field, they were 
also a people of great practical good sense. They knew 
how to bind their conquests together. 

The Organization of Italy. — Rome did not deprive the 
conquered states and cities of their self-government, but 
she kept the balance of power by retaining three rights for 
herself, — the right of making war or peace, the right of re-' 
ceiving ambassadors, and the right of coining money. The 
Italians could have their old laws and local customs, but they 
could not take part in the politics of the republic. That was 
confined to the citizens of Rome, who were made up of the 
people of the city, the colonists who had gone from Rome 
to other parts of Italy, and such persons as had been 
made citizens for some important service. Only these had 



ROME 207 

the privilege of going to Rome and voting in the assembly 
of the people. 

Engineering- "Works. — The wonderful system of military 
roads was also begun at this time. The first of these was 
the paved road called the Ap'pian Way, after Ap'pius Clau'- 
dius, who built it in 312 b.c. Other roads followed, extend- 
ing to every part of Italy, and binding the whole country 
to Rome as its ruling centre. Another important work 
was that of the great aqueducts, begun about this time, 
and stretching far over hill and dale. The remains of these 
structures still meet the eyes of travellers who approach the 
"Eternal City." 



CHAPTER III 
THE PUNIC WARS 

Rome and Carthage. — Rome had brought Italy under 
her feet, and had bound it to herself by a wise system of 
laws. But she was too ambitious to stop here, and began 
to look abroad for new foes. She found a rival to her 
greatness on the coast of Africa in the large and rich city of 
Car'thage. You may remember reading that the Phoenicians, 
in their great days of commerce, founded many trading 
colonies along the Mediterranean. There were more than 
three hundred of these, and Carthage was much the greatest 
of them all. 

The Growth of Carthag-e. — Founded about a hundred 
years before Rome, Carthage had grown to be wealthy and 
powerful. Its ships traded with a hundred ports, and it was 
mistress of all the northern coast of Africa and of many 
islands in the Mediterranean. It held the larger part of 
Sicily and the south of Spain. With its war-galleys sweep- 
ing in every direction over the sea, it could well claim that 
the Mediterranean was a Carthaginian lake, in which no one 
dared wash his hands without its permission. 

The War in Sicily. — Carthage was the great rival which 
Rome was determined to attack. Only a few miles of sea 
flowed between Italy and Sicily, and in the year 264 b.c. 
the Romans found an excuse for invading this island. It 
was held partly by Carthage and partly by the famous Greek 
city of Syracuse. The Syracusans and the Carthaginians 
had long been fighting each other, but when they saw these 

208 



ROME 209 

unwelcome strangers coming they joined hands and tried to 
drive them back to Italy. Instead of doing so, they were 
themselves completely defeated, and the Romans soon had 
possession of much of the island. The King of Syracuse 
now deserted Carthage and joined Rome, and the Cartha- 
ginian armies met with severe disasters. 

The Fleet of Carthage. — Carthage had one advantage, it 
had its great war-fleet and was mistress of the seas. Rome 
had no ships. But the senate soon saw that the only way 
to deal successfully with Carthage was to meet it on the 
water as well as on the land, and it gave orders for the 
building of a fleet. 

Rome's First Fleet. — The Romans had plenty of energy, 
but all their career had been on land, and they knew noth- 




A Roman Bieeme. 
(Bas-relief at Villa Albani.) 

ing about ships. But they were practical people, and set 
themselves to learn. A war-galley of Carthage was wrecked 
on the shores of Italy and this was used as a model. In 
the wonderfully short space of sixty days, as we are told, a 
forest was cut down and worked into ship timber and a fleet 
of a hundred and twenty war-galleys was built. This was 
in the year 260 b.c. 

A Naval Victory. — The new fleet quickly met a Cartha- 
ginian fleet near My'lae, in northern Sicily, and a fierce 

14 



210 ANCIENT HISTORY 

battle began. The Romans did not understand naval fight- 
ing and wanted to meet their foes hand to hand, so they 
had built a drawbridge on each of their vessels. As soon 
as they came near enough to a Carthaginian ship they let 
this bridge fall, and the soldiers rushed across it to the deck 
of their enemies sword in hand. In this way they won a 
complete victory. When the news of what had been done 
reached Rome the people were wild with joy, for they felt 
that they might come to rule the sea as well as the land. 

Two Great Ocean Disasters. — So proud were the Ro- 
mans of their ships that they decided to carry the war into 
Africa, so a large fleet was sent across the sea and an army 
landed under the consul Reg'ulus. But this expedition 
proved a sad failure. The army met with a terrible defeat 
and Regulus was taken prisoner. A fleet was sent over to 
bring back what was left of the army, but it was struck by a 
frightful storm off the coast of Sicily and a hundred thousand 
men were swallowed up by the angry waves. That was. a 
terrible loss to the Romans, but they at once built another 
fleet which was sent to Africa. This, too, was hurled on the 
shore by a great storm, and the Romans began to think 
that the fates were against them and that Neptune, the sea 
god, was their enemy. 

The Story of Kegulus. — The war still went on in Sicily, 
and in the year 251 b.c. the Carthaginians, who had just lost 
a great battle, sent ambassadors to Rome to ask for peace. 
With them came Regulus, who for five years had been a 
prisoner in Carthage. He promised to return if the embassy 
should fail, and the Carthaginians were sure that he would 
ask the senate to make peace. But, on the contrary, he 
raised his voice for war, and told the senate that Carthage 
was in a weak state. Then he kept his word and went 



ROME 



211 



back, in spite of the tears of his wife and the entreaties of 
his friends, though he knew that he would be put to a cruel 
death. There is much tradition in this, and the story of 
how Regulus was put in a barrel driven full of spikes and 
left there to die is probably all false. 

Roman Losses at Sea. — The war went on for ten years 
longer, though the Romans lost two more fleets, one in 
battle and one in storm. They had now lost in all fourteen 
hundred vessels, half of which were great war-galleys, and 




A Roman Harbor. 



others were filled with grain for the army ; and it looked, 
indeed, as if Neptune did not intend that Rome should lord 
it over the seas. But the Romans never gave up, and after 
a few years another fleet was built and set afloat. This time 
it won an important naval victory. 

A Costly Peace. — Carthage now asked again for peace, 
and a treaty was made in which she agreed to pay a large 
sum of money, to give up all claim to the island of Sicily, 
and to surrender all her prisoners. Thus, in 241 b.c, ended 
the first Punic war, — as the war with Carthage was called, — 
after it had gone on for twenty-four years. 



212 ANCIENT HISTORY 

The Conquest of the Gauls. — Rome soon found work to 
do at home. In the north of Italy were the Gauls, who had 
not yet been conquered. When they learned that a Roman 
army was marching northward along the great military road, 
the Flamin'ian Way, they knew what it meant, and they 
quickly were in arms and moving to the south. This filled 
the Roman people with a panic of fear. They could not 
forget what had happened when these terrible Gauls came 
before. But this time the Roman armies held their own 
against them and defeated them with such slaughter that in 
three years all their country-was conquered and the whole 
of Italy now belonged to Rome. 

Hamilcar and His Son. — The course of history now takes 
us back to Carthage. The people of that great city were very 
bitter against the Romans, who they felt had treated them 
harshly and unjustly in the terms of peace, and they were 
eager for revenge. They had a good general in Hamil'car 
Bar'ca, Avho had shown himself very able near the end of the 
late war. Hamilcar thought that the best manner to get at 
Rome was by way of Spain, in which Carthage held some 
coast provinces. When he crossed to Spain in 235 b.c. he 
took with him his son Han'nibal, then only nine years old. 
Bringing the boy to an altar, he made him swear eternal hatred 
to Rome. Hannibal kept his oath well, as you shall see. 

The War in Spain. — For nine years Hamilcar was occu- 
pied in conquering and organizing the tribes of Spain. Then 
he was killed in battle, and Has'drubal, his son-in-law, took 
his place. He, too, proved a skilful general, and helped to 
spread the dominion of Carthage in Spain. Hasdrubal was 
at length killed by an assassin, and Hannibal was called upon 
by the army to be their leader. He was now twenty-six 
years old. 



ROME 213 

Hannibal as a General. — Hannibal was one of the great- 
est generals the world has ever known. For fifteen years he 
kept the Romans in terror. If he had been well supported 
by his country he might have destroyed the power of Rome. 
His story begins in Spain, where he rapidly extended the 
dominion of Carthage. Then he attacked Sagun'tum, a 
Greek city on the coast. He knew that this would bring on 
war with Rome, for the Greek cities had put themselves un- 
der Roman protection, but he went on all the same and con- 
quered the city. The result was what Hannibal had intended. 
War was declared by Rome. 

The Second Punic "War. — The second Punic war came 
in the year 218 b.c. The Romans began it by sending one 
army to Africa and another to- Spain. But startling news 
came to them which caused those armies to be hastily 
brought back. Hannibal had crossed the Pyrenees Moun- 
tains and was marching on Italy. 

Hannibal crosses the Alps. — Hannibal now performed 
one of the most famous military exploits in all history, he 
led his army across the mighty mountain-range of the Alps. 
Up and up the steep slopes of these lofty hills the men 
toiled, by narrow and difficult paths, some of which they 
had to cut wider for the passage of the elephants they 
brought. As they went on the wild mountain tribes hurled 
stones down on them from the higher peaks. At length they 
reached the summit, where the snows had begun to fall. 
But the weary men looked down on the rich plains of Italy, 
and their troubles were forgotten. 

"Yonder lies Rome." — "This is the Acropolis of Italy; 
yonder lies Rome,' 1 said Hannibal, and new spirit came into 
his men. Half their work was still before them, for the de- 
scent was as toilsome as the ascent, but at length they stood 



214 ANCIENT HISTORY 

on the Italian plains. Half their number had perished in the 
task, and only twenty-six thousand men were left, but these 
few men were a host with Hannibal at their head. 

Hannibal's Rapid Victories. — Soon a Roman army was 
met and defeated. A few days later a second army met the 
same fate. The Gauls, who waited to see what Hannibal 
would do, now joined him in numbers, and the next year, at 
Lake Trasime'nus, he almost destroyed a Roman army. 

The Great Victory of Cannes. — We cannot tell all that 
Hannibal did in Italy. It is far too long a story. The Ro- 
mans appointed a general named Fa'bius, who was famous 
for his caution. He would not fight, but hung about Hanni- 
bal's army and tried to do it all the harm he could and to 
tire it out. In 216 b.c. Rome raised the largest army it had 
ever had, eighty thousand strong. Hannibal had not more 
than half that number. The Romans now felt sure of vic- 
tory, but the two armies met at Can'nae, in Apu'lia, and the 
Romans suffered the most terrible defeat in their history. 
Hannibal skilfully surrounded them with his army, and his 
cavalry cut them down for hours. From fifty thousand to 
seventy thousand are said to have been killed, a few thou- 
sands were captured, and a mere handful escaped. It was a 
frightful slaughter. When Hannibal's messenger brought the 
news to Carthage he proved his words by pouring down in 
the senate house nearly a peck of gold rings which had been 
taken from the fingers of Roman knights. 

Hannibal's Plan. — Hannibal now could easily have taken 
Rome, but he had no fancy for getting behind walls. The 
people of Italy still kept faithful to Rome, and he did not 
care to be besieged. So he kept in the open country, win- 
ning battles whenever he could bring the Romans to fight, 
and seeking to wear out their strength and get the Italian 



ROME 



215 



cities to join his cause. It was in this that he met his great 
failure. Rome had bound all Italy closely to her by her 
wise system of laws, and nearly all the states remained 
friendly through these years of peril and misfortune. 

The Energ-y of the Romans. — The Romans, as we have 
said, never gave up. Hannibal offered them peace after 
Cannae, but they would not even let his envoy enter the city. 
His brother came from Spain with an army to help him, but 
he was met and defeated by the Romans and his gory head 




SCIPIO ADDRESSING HIS TROOPS. 



was flung into Hannibal's camp. The city of Capua, which 
had opened its gates to Hannibal, was taken by the Romans 
and cruelly punished ; and the great city of Syracuse, which 
formed an alliance with Carthage, was besieged for three 
years, and then so completely plundered that it never re- 
covered from the blow. 



216 ANCIENT HISTORY 

The Fatal Field of Zama. — At length the Roman 
general Scipio, one of the most famous of the Roman 
leaders, took an army to Africa, and so frightened the Car- 
thaginians by his victories that they sent for Hannibal to 
come home. He met Scipio at Zama, in Africa, and was 
defeated in the only battle he ever lost. His veterans from 
Italy were nearly all destroyed. 

A Ruinous Peace for Carthage. — Carthage was now in 
a helpless state and asked for peace, but it was a bitter peace 
she obtained. She had to give up all her possessions in 
Spain and the islands of the Mediterranean, yield all her 
ships of war but ten, and pay a large sum of money. Five 
hundred of her great war-galleys were towed out of the 
harbor and burned before the eyes of the citizens. Hannibal 
had made a great name, but he had a sad fate. He fled for 
safety to Asia, but the Romans pursued him mercilessly. 
Finally, that he might not fall into the hands of his cruel 
foes, he took poison, which he carried with him in the hollow 
of a ring. His death was like that of the great Demosthenes. 

" Carthag-e must be destroyed." — The end of the story 
of Carthage did not come until fifty years later, but must here 
be told. There was a party in Rome determined on the 
destruction of Carthage, and Cato, the censor, closed every 
speech before the Senate, no matter what it was about, with 
the words, Delenda est Carthago, " Carthage must be de- 
stroyed." 

A Terrible Order. — In 149 B.C. an army was sent to 
Carthage. The people offered to do everything that Rome 
could ask. They even gave up all the arms in the city. 
But this did not satisfy Rome, and the order was given that 
Carthage must be destroyed, and that its people might build 
a new city ten miles from the coast. 



ROME 



217 



The Pate of a Great City. — This cruel order drove the 
people to desperation. They closed their gates, and all the 
men, rich and poor, set to making new arms. The women 
even cut off their long hair to make bow-strings for the 
archers. When the Roman army advanced to take the city, 
they found its walls manned by men with arms in their 




The Burning of Cakthage. 

hands. The desperate people of Carthage made a good 
fight. It took the Romans four years to capture the city. 
When at last it was taken by storm in 146 b.c. only fifty 
thousand remained out of its seven hundred thousand 
people. The great and splendid city was set on fire and 
burned for seventeen days. Then the smoking walls were 
levelled with the ground and a plough was driven over the 
site. Thus it was that the Romans dealt with a helpless 
enemy. It may be seen from this what a cruel and hard- 
hearted people they were. 



CHAPTER IV 
THE GROWTH OF THE ROMAN DOMINION 

The Conquests of Rome. — You have now read how the 
people of Rome after some centuries of warfare had con- 
quered all Italy, and how they had taken from Carthage all 
its islands in the Mediterranean Sea, and finally had utterly 
destroyed that rich and flourishing old city, and gained 
great possessions in Africa. All this only made the Romans 
eager for new wars and conquests, and they looked abroad 
in the world to see where else they should send their armies. 

Between the Punic Wars. — We have said that fifty 
years passed between the second and third Punic wars. 
You must not think that Rome was at peace during that half- 
century. At the close of the first Punic war she had con- 
quered the Gauls of Northern Italy ; after the second she 
sent her armies into Macedonia and Greece. The mighty 
empire of Alexander the Great had long been broken up into 
separate kingdoms, and Macedonia was not the powerful 
state it once had been. 

War with Macedonia. — The Senate of Rome soon found 
an excuse for war against Philip, King of Macedonia, and in 
the year 198 b.c. an army was sent to that country under a 
general named Flamin'ius. This shrewd leader began by 
proclaiming all Greece to be independent, and in that way 
got most of the Greeks on his side. The next year he met 
Philip and his army at a place called Cynosceph'alse and 
totally defeated him. After this victory all the old power of 
Macedonia was gone, though Philip was left on his throne. 

218 



ROME 219 

Greece got back her freedom again, but she was free only at 
the will of Rome. 

Antiochus invades Europe. — In the history of Alex- 
ander's empire you have been told of Anti'ochus the Great, 
the successor of Seleucus and king of all southern Asia. 
This famous monarch was the next to come into conflict with 
the Romans. He had sent his armies into Europe and had 
given an asylum to Hannibal, the great Carthaginian, and 
that was enough for Rome. 

The Repulse of Antiochus. — War was declared against 
the proud Antiochus, who had defied Rome and invaded 
Greece. The Greeks who joined him were defeated at the 
famous pass of Thermopylae. His fleet was scattered to the 
winds, and the next year (19© b.c.) a great battle was fought 
at Magne'sia, in Asia Minor, in which the Romans won a 
complete victory. This gave them possession of a large part 
of Asia Minor, where they set up a new kingdom, under a 
king chosen by themselves. 

Perseus defeated. — Some time after this King Philip of 
Macedonia died and his son Perseus (Per'suse) came to the 
throne. The young monarch was proud and brave, and 
tried to free his kingdom from the power of Rome, but after 
three years 1 fighting he was utterly beaten at the battle of 
Pyd'na in 168 b.c. He was taken to Rome as a captive, 
and Macedonia was made a part of the Roman dominions. 

The Destruction of Corinth. — Greece kept its freedom 
only about twenty years longer. Ry that time the Romans 
became so unjust and tyrannical that the Greek confederacy 
called the Achaean League rebelled. The war ended in the 
year 146 b.c, in the complete destruction of the great and 
beautiful city of Corinth. This rich old city was full of 
splendid works of art, but the Romans, who were still bar- 



220 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



barians as compared with the Greeks, knew little of their 
value, and many of them were sold for a trifle at public 
auction. Rome first learned what true art was when great 
numbers of these beautiful statues and pictures and other 
art-works were brought to Italy. As for Greece, its freedom 
was at an end, and it was added to the Roman empire. We 
may see how ruthless the Romans were at that time when 
we consider that in a single year the two great and famous 
cities, Corinth and Carthage, were utterly ruined and de- 
stroyed by them. 

The Conflict in Spain. For the next wars of Rome we 
must go to Spain. Here the soldiers of Carthage had made 




Vessels laden -with Troops and Plunder. 

great conquests, but the people were not willing to submit to 
Rome, and they bravely defended their liberty for many 
years. There was one noble chief, Viria'tus, leader of the 
Lusita'nians, who was not afraid to meet the best generals 
of Rome, and for six years he kept the field against them. 
With him the Romans played a base part, for they had him 
murdered by an assassin. After this deed of dishonor they 
subdued his people. 



ROME 221 

The Siege and Ruin of Numantia. Here again we 
have to tell how cruel the Romans could be. Another tribe 
in the north of Spain held out against the power of Rome. 
Scip'io iEmilia'nus — not the great Scipio who had defeated 
Hannibal in Africa, but another famous general of the family 
— was sent against them, but it took several years to bring 
the war to an end. During the war a city named Numan'tia 
was besieged, and the siege was one of the most dreadful of 
which we read anywhere in history. For eighteen months 
the people held out, until they were forced to eat the very 
bodies of the dead. When at last they had to surrender, 
some of them set fire to their houses and died with their 
wives and children in the flames, so that very few were left 
for the Romans. These were sold into slavery, and the city 
was destroyed as Corinth and Carthage had been. This 
took place in 133 b.c. 

The Crimes of Jugurtha. — So many wars followed that 
we must run over them rapidly. In Africa was a prince 
named Jugur'tha, who seized the throne of Numid'ia and 
committed many crimes. Complaints against him were sent 
to Rome, but he bribed the members of the senate with his 
gold and went on with his crimes. You may see from this 
that even the senate had grown corrupt as Rome grew rich 
and powerful. 

Marius conquers Jugurtha. — At length Jugurtha did so 
many wicked deeds that Rome was forced to interfere. But 
this time he bribed the generals sent against him and thus 
escaped, defeat. The man who finally overcame him was 
Cai'us Ma'rius, the son of a poor day laborer, but a man 
of splendid military powers. He conquered Jugurtha and 
brought him to Rome, where he was carried in triumph 
through the streets, and then thrust into a dark dungeon, 



222 ANCIENT HISTORY 

where he was left to die of cold and hunger. He had 
done so many cruel deeds that we cannot pity him much. 

The Teutons and Cinabri. — Soon after this there was 
greater work still for Marius to do, for Rome passed through 
a frightful peril, like that which it met when the Gauls came 
upon it. Two great hordes of barbarians, the Teu'tons and 
the Cim'bri, came from the forests of Germany and rushed 
like a torrent upon the south. Four Roman armies were 
defeated by them, and matters were looking very dark for 
Rome, when Marius was put in command. 

"The Saviour of Rome." — Marius led his army across 
the Alps into Gaul (now France) and met the wild host of 
the Teutons on the river Rhone (102 b.c). When he had 
done with them there were few left. It is said that two 
hundred thousand of them were slain. Then he hastened 
back to Italy and met the Cimbri, . whom he defeated as 
completely, more than one hundred thousand being killed 
and sixty thousand taken prisoners. These the Romans 
sold as slaves, and they hailed Marius as the " saviour of his 
country.'" 

Mithridates against Rome. — Soon after this time a great 
war took place in Asia, with Mithrida'tes, king of Pontus, a 
proud and powerful monarch. This king, who was a very 
learned and able man, determined to drive the Romans out 
- of Asia Minor and give freedom to Greece, and he ordered 
that all the Italians in Asia Minor should be put to death. 
In a single night from eighty thousand to one hundred and 
fifty thousand of them were killed. 

The Triumph of the Romans. — Sul'la, a young noble 
who had fought under Marius, was sent to conduct the war 
against Mithridates, and defeated him in several battles, 
forcing him in 84 b.c. to accept harsh terms of peace. Rut 



ROME 



223 



war broke out again in 74 b.c. and Lucul'lus, a Roman con- 
sul, three times severely defeated the enemy. One time he 
had only twelve thousand men against an army of two hun- 
dred thousand, of whom fifty thousand were cavalry. Finally 
Pom'pey, afterwards known as Pompey the Great, drove 
Mithridates from his throne and his country, and Rome's 
greatest enemy killed himself in despair (63 b.c). When 
the Romans heard of his death they were as glad as if the 




The Coliseum and the Arch of Titus. 



news of a great victory had reached them. Pompey made 
a Roman province of Pontus, and he also conquered Syria 
and captured the famous old city of Jerusalem, the capital 
of the Hebrew kingdom. This made the land of Judea a 
part of the dominion of Rome. 

The Effect on Rome. — Now let us rest awhile from all 
these dreadful stories of war and the slaughter of human 
beings and the ruin of cities and countries, and stop to look 



224 ANCIENT HISTORY 

at Rome itself and see what effect all this had upon the city 
on the Tiber. 

Great Development of the City. — Rome was becoming 
the centre of the civilized world. Wealth was pouring into 
it from all quarters. The taxation of the provinces and the 
spoils of war brought great riches to the city, much of which 
was spent in public works. Great highways were built in 
Italy and the provinces, fine bridges were thrown across the 
Tiber, splendid public buildings arose, sewers were con- 
structed, the streets were paved, new aqueducts were built, 
and in 159 b.c. a public clep'sydra, or water-clock, was set 
up in Rome. It was the first mechanical means of telling 
the passage of the hours the people of that city had ever 
known. 

The Learned Men of Greece. — Strangers came to Rome 
in great numbers, many of them being learned men from 
Greece. There were Greek school-masters and philosophers, 
tragedians, flute-players, and scholars, and literary culture 
now first began to spread in Rome. The conquering city 
got some good writers of its own, like Plautus and Terence, 
the famous comedians, though the great age of Roman 
literature lay a century in the future. 

Loss of Roman Virtue. — The Romans learned some good 
things and they learned many bad things. They became cor- 
rupt in manners and morals and fond of luxurious living, and 
the hardy old virtues were fast leaving them. Many of them 
mocked at religion. The stern, upright old Roman was pass- 
ing away, and only a weak shadow of him remained. The 
political corruption became alarming. The citizen voters held 
all the power of the state, and they soon found that their 
votes would bring a price, so the great offices may be said 
to have been bought and sold. 



ROME 



225 



The Provincial Governments. — The Romans knew how 
to bind their great realm together much better than the 
rulers of the earlier empires had done. They let the people 
of the provinces keep their old habits, religion, laws, etc., 




Map of Italy, b c. 150. 



and every city had its own local government. But they 
sent to every province a military governor with his staff of 
officials and his military force, and he looked out sharply 
for the interests of Rome. The people were taxed, but 



15 



226 ANCIENT HISTORY 

they were not oppressed, and a vast population dwelt in 
content under the Roman rule. 

The Slave System. — There were two things that threat- 
ened Roman power at home. One of these was the im- 
mense number of slaves which war and conquest had 
brought into Italy. At the time we are now speaking of it 
is said that there were twelve million slaves to three million 
freemen in Italy. They were numerous elsewhere. Sicily 
was full of them, where they were made to work like cattle 
on the great estates. They were so cheap that it paid better 
to work them to death than to take care of them. Some 
estates had as many as twenty thousand slaves, many of 
whom had been taken in war and were equal or superior in 
intellect and culture to their masters. 

The Slave Outbreak in Sicily. — This slave system led to 
a great outbreak. In 134 b.c. the slaves of Sicily broke into 
rebellion, and for three years they defied the Roman power, 
defeating four armies that were sent against them. There 
were two hundred thousand of them in arms,' and it was 
not till 132 b.c. that the revolt was put down. 

Spartacus and the Servile War. — At a later time, in 72 
b.c, a slave rebellion began in Italy. Spar'tacus, a slave 
gladiator, headed a party of slaves and took refuge in the 
crater of Mount Vesuvius, where hosts of slaves and out- 
laws joined him. His force grew to be one hundred thou- 
sand strong, and he defeated the Roman forces in several 
battles, so that the city itself was in danger. But at last his 
army was defeated and he was slain. Only then did the 
Romans breathe freely. You may see that Rome, great as 
it was, had its points of weakness. 

A Friend of the Poor. — -Another great evil was that the 
rich were taking possession of all the lands, in spite of the 



ROME 227 

old Roman laws, so that the people were being divided into 
two great classes, the rich and the poor. There was bitter 
opposition to this, and a rich young noble named Tibe'rius 
Grac'chus, who was elected tribune in 133 B.C., tried to help 
the poor by putting in force the old property law, which said 
that the land should be divided among the people. 

The Murder of the Gracchi. — This made some of the 
rich so furious that they raised a tumult in which Gracchus 
and many of his friends were slain. Ten years later Cai'us 
Grac'chus, brother of Tiberius, also sought to help the 
people against the aristocrats, but he was attacked by his 
enemies and was killed with three thousand of his followers. 
Thus died the friends of the people, and thus began the 
frightful era of civil war and massacre. 

The Social War. — In the year 90 b.c. there began a civil 
war called the Social War. The people of Italy said they 
had as much right to be Roman citizens as the people of 
the city. This right was denied by the Romans, and a 
tribune who said they had a just right to be made citizens 
was killed. At this the Italians took up arms to fight for 
their rights. They said they would break away from Rome, 
and they chose a new capital which they named Ital'ica. A 
war followed that lasted three years and was very fierce and 
bloody. In the end the old Romans, fearing that they might 
lose all, offered the right of the franchise to those who would 
lay down their arms. This ended a war that had cost the 
lives of three hundred thousand people and brought ruin to 
many cities and districts. But the Italians had gained what 
they fought for, since they were all made citizens of Rome. 
It was three centuries later before this right was given to all 
the free people of the empire. 



CHAPTER V 

THE ERA OF CIVIL WAR 

The Army Supreme. — When the kings were driven from 
Rome, as you will remember, the city-state became a repub- 
lic, or government of the people, and thus it stayed for more 
than four hundred years. But it was not to stay so much 
longer, for the army had grown to be the great power in 
Rome. It was no longer as in the early days, when every 




Mounted Archer. 
(From the Antonine Column.) 

able man went as a soldier when war broke out, and hung 
up his sword and spear when it was over. The army was 
now made up of men to whom war was a trade, who re- 
mained in the army for years, and who often cared more for 
their general than they did for their country. So it was easy 
now for an ambitious army leader to seize the governing 
power, and this led to the fall of the republic. 

228 



ROME 229 

The Contest of Marius and Sulla. — It was Marius, the 
"Saviour of his Country, 1 ' who dealt it the first fatal blow. 
This old hero had now a rival in Sulla, an able soldier who 
had fought under him in the war with Jugurtha, and had come 
into great favor. When the war with Mithridates began both 
these men wanted to command. The senate gave the com- 
mand to Sulla, but Marius got the assembly of the people to 
vote that he should have it. Sulla was general of an army 
in Italy, and when he heard of what had been done he 
marched upon Rome and entered the city with his legions. 
Marius had to flee for his life. This was the first time a 
Roman army had ever encamped within the walls of the 
city. It was far from being the last time. 

Marius and the Slave. — Old Marius, who twenty years 
before was called the Saviour of his Country, was now a 
homeless fugitive, with a price set upon his head. He was 
captured on the coast and put in a dungeon, and a slave was 
sent into the prison to kill him. But when the man entered 
the dark cell where Marius lay the eyes of the old soldier 
seemed to flash fire from the darkness, and a fierce voice 
roared out, " Do you dare slay Caius Marius ?" The fright- 
ened slave dropped his sword and fled. 

Marius in the Ruins of Carthage. — Marius was now set 
free, and he took ship for Africa, landing at a point near 
Carthage. The Roman governor of that place sent him a 
message forbidding him to land, but the old general, who 
had won for Rome half its possessions in Africa, sent back 
the indignant answer, u Go, tell your master that you have 
seen Caius Marius, a homeless wanderer, sitting amidst the 
ruins of Carthage." 

The Revenge of Marius. — Soon there was a turn in 
the tide of fortune. After Sulla sailed for Asia to fight with 



230 ANCIENT HISTORY 

Mithridates the friends of Marius rose in arms in Italy, and 
the fugitive came back. An army was ready for him, and 
he marched with it into Rome, where he began a dreadful 
slaughter of his enemies. For five days the massacre was 
kept up among the members of the aristocratic party, whose 
bleeding bodies were left lying in every street. If a citizen 
saluted Marius, and he did not return the salute, the victim 
was at once cut down. The consul Octa'vius was killed 
and his head set up in public, a new spectacle for Roman 
eyes. It was a terrible revenge, but Marius did not live 
long to enjoy his triumph, for wild drinking and dissipation 
quickly carried him away. He died soon after his return, 
in his seventy-first year (86 B.C.). 

Sulla in Italy. — Rome had run with blood, but it was 
soon to run more freely still, for Sulla had been victorious 
in the war with Mithridates, and wrote that he would soon 
return to revenge himself on his own and his country's 
foes. He reached Italy in 83 b.c. The people's party met 
him in arms and a dreadful war followed, which lasted two 
years. The Samnites took arms against him, but he over- 
came all his foes and entered Rome as its master. 

The Proscription by Sulla. — Now began a slaughter 
tenfold more dreadful than that of Marius. Sulla had taken 
six thousand Samnite prisoners, and he had all these put to 
death. Then he began the murder of his enemies. Every 
day long lists of the names of those to be killed were hung 
up on the rostrum, and they were hunted down and murdered. 
The only crime of many of them was that they had property 
which the friends of Sulla wanted. These lists of names 
was called the proscription. Among those proscribed was a 
boy of eighteen named Julius Caesar. Sulla spared his life 
to please some of his friends, but he told them, " There is 



ROME 231 

in that boy many a Marius." He was right, as you will 
learn later on. 

Sulla's Last Days. — The slaughter was frightful, thou- 
sands of the noble and wealthy being slain, and also tens of 
thousands of the poor who had sided with Marius. Sulla 
then had himself made perpetual dictator. But after two 
years, to everybody's surprise, he resigned this office and 
retired to private life. Here he gave himself up to a career 
of intemperance and debauchery which soon put an end 
to his life. It is said that the strife between Marius and 
Sulla caused the loss of one hundred and fifty thousand 
lives. 

New Leaders appear. — Marius and Sulla were gone, but 
new names were rising in Rome and new changes were 
coming. There was Pom'pey, already known as a great 
general. There was Cras'sus, whose vast wealth gave him 
power. There was Cic'ero, an orator who was rising to 
world-wide fame. There was Cae'sar, the youth who had 
escaped death at Sulla's hands, and who was to prove him- 
self the greatest of all the Romans. 

Pompey the Great. — Pompey had been named " Pompey 
the Great" by Sulla, whose enemies he conquered in Sicily 
and Africa. Afterwards he went to Spain, where he fought 
for ten years against Serto'rius, a leader in the party of 
Marius. He won only after the brave Sertorius was mur- 
dered. The next year (71 b.c.) he and Crassus put down 
the slave rebellion under Spartacus. 

The Mediterranean Pirates. — At that time the Mediter- 
ranean Sea was such a nest of pirates that there was no 
longer any safety for commerce. These freebooters had a 
sort of government of their own, and they held a great 
many strongholds. They plundered not only on the open 



232 ANCIENT HISTORY 

seas, but landed on the coasts, where they robbed villas and 
farms, and even captured cities, whose people they sold as 
slaves. Finally they began to seize the grain-ships from 
Sicily and Africa, and Rome was in danger of starvation. It 
was time to act. 

Pompey's Victories. — Pompey was chosen to deal with 
the pirates. He was made dictator for three years over the 
sea and its coasts for fifty miles inland, and he set out on 
the track of the pirates with five hundred ships and one 
hundred thousand men. His work was wonderfully swifk 
In less than a hundred days he swept the Mediterranean 
clear of these rovers, captured their strongholds, and formed 
colonies in Greece and Asia Minor out of twenty thousand 
of them whom he had taken prisoners. The same year 
(66 b.c.) he took command of the Mithridatic war and 
brought that to a successful end. Then he came home and 
had the most splendid triumph Rome had ever seen. More 
than three hundred princes walked as captives before his 
triumphant chariot, and his banners stated that he had con- 
quered twenty-one kings and countries, with more than 
twelve million people. 

The Conspiracy of Catiline. — The next important event 
in Roman history was the conspiracy of Cat'iline. Catiline 
was a profligate young noble, who had wasted his estate in 
riotous living and now formed a plot with others of his kind 
to murder the consuls and burn and plunder the city. By 
good fortune the dangerous plot was discovered by Cicero, 
the famous orator. Cicero appeared in the senate, and 
denounced Catiline and his associates with such burning 
eloquence that the plotter was forced to flee. His fellows in 
the city tried to carry out his plot, but Cicero was on their 
track, and had them seized and put to death. Catiline 



ROME 



233 



gathered a force, and a desperate battle was fought, in which 
he and many of his followers were killed. Cicero was now 
hailed as the " Saviour of his 
Country.' 1 

The First Triumvirate. — We 
have now to speak of one of the 
most famous events in the history 
of Rome, — the forming of what 
is known as the " First Trium'- 
virate." This word means an 
association of three men, and the 
three men were Pompey, Caesar, 
and Crassus, who joined together 
to control affairs in Rome. 

Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar. 
— Pompey's strength lay in his 
great fame as a soldier. Crassus 
was immensely wealthy, and 

money gave him power. Caesar was a born statesman and 
a fine orator, and had gained great influence over the people. 
He spent money so freely to win popular favor that his 
debts are said to have been more than a million dollars. 
And he had genius as a soldier, too, as he had shown by a 
successful campaign in Spain. Such were the three men 
who now divided between them the control of the Roman 
world. 

Caesar's Province of Gaul. — Caesar was elected consul in 
59 b.c. When his year in office was up he was made pro- 
consul, or governor, of the province of Gaul. This was a 
double province. There was Cisalpine Gaul, south of the 
Alps, from which had come Brennus and his horde. In 
Transalpine Gaul, beyond the Alps, Rome had only a small 




Cicero. 



234 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



foothold. It was a land of wild and bold barbarians, and 
Caesar had the ambition to conquer it and add it to Rome. 
He wanted to show the people that he was as great a soldier 
as Pompey. 

The "Wars in Gaul. — The wars of Caesar in Gaul lasted 
eight years, from 58 to 50 b.c. By the end of that time he 




Julius C^sak as a Geneeal. 



had subdued three hundred tribes, captured eight hundred 
cities, and slain one million people, while he had taken as 
many more prisoners. He had also crossed the Rhine and 
attacked the Germans in their native forests. And he had 
crossed the channel to Britain and fought with the fierce 
natives of that island. As for Gaul, it was made a fixed part 



ROME 235 

of the Roman realm, and in time it became a flourishing 
seat of civilization. 

Crassus is killed.— While Caesar was fighting in Gaul, 
Crassus had become proconsul, or governor, of Syria. He 
wanted to act the soldier, too. West of his province were 
the Par'thians, an Eastern race who had overrun much of 
Alexander's old empire. Crassus went to war with these 
people and was defeated and slain. Thus the Aveak member 
of the Triumvirate was removed. His great passion had 
been love of money, and the general of the Parthians took 
his skull and filled it with melted gold, that he might have 
all the wealth his head could hold. 

Pompey amuses the People. — Pompey was now grow- 
ing very jealous of the great reputation of Caesar. Spain 
was his province, and he should have been there with the 
army, but he remained in Rome, trying to win favor with 
the people. He built an immense theatre with forty thou- 
sand seats, he fed the poor at public tables, and gave mag- 
nificent games and great fights of gladiators. When Caesar 
learned what was going on he sent money to Rome to be 
used for the same purposes, and also increased the pay of 
his soldiers and gave many favors to the Gauls, to win them 
to his side. 

The Senate's Decrees. — Pompey now took a bolder step. 
He got the senate, which was filled with his friends, to pass 
a decree that Caesar should give up the command of his 
army. Caesar agreed to do so if Pompey would do the 
same. This Pompey did not do, and the senate decreed 
that Caesar must obey its orders by a certain day or he would 
be declared an outlaw. 

Caesar crosses the Rubicon. — Such a decree as that, 
against a man like Julius Caesar, could have but one end. 



236 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



He at once ordered his legions to march into Italy. A little 
river called the Ru'bicon formed the southern border of his 
province. "The die is cast, 1 ' he said, as he stood on the 
banks of this stream with a small body of veterans. Into 
the water he plunged and waded across, and then marched 
rapidly southward without waiting for the legions from Gaul. 
As he went the cities all opened their gates to him and the 
soldiers everywhere joined him. Pompey and the senate 
saw that Rome was lost, and they fled in haste. Within 
sixty days Csesar was master of all Italy. 







Cato about to commit Suicide. 



The Field of Pharsalia. — The next year (48 b.c.) the two 
great rivals met in battle on the plain of Pharsa'lia, in north- 
ern Greece. Here took place one of those great battles that 
control the history of nations. Csesar had much the smaller 
army, but he was much the greater general, and he won a 
complete victory. Pompey fled in despair to Egypt, but he 



ROME 237 

was killed by the Egyptians as he was about to land, and his 
head was sent to Caesar. Thus ended the First Triumvirate. 

Csesar's Last Conquest. — Caesar lived only four years 
after the fall of Pompey, but these were busy years. He 
had wars in Egypt, Asia, Africa, and Spain, in all of which 
he was successful. In Asia he put down the son of the 
great Mithridates so quickly, that his report to the senate 
was in three words, — veni, vidi, vici, "I came, I saw, I con- 
quered. 1 ' Cato, the famous philosopher and patriot, who 
had joined the cause of Pompey and fought against Caesar 
in Africa, committed suicide, not being willing to live after 
the republic had fallen. 

A Great Statesman. — Reaching home, Caesar amused the 
Romans with a magnificent triumph and splendid shows. 
He also showed that he was a great statesman as well as 
soldier. To prove that he did not like the old policy of 
Rome he had the two cities of Carthage and Corinth rebuilt. 
He also founded numerous colonies in the provinces, settling 
them with large numbers of the poorer people of the capital 
city. He took other wise steps to blend the different peoples 
into one nationality, and he greatly extended the privilege of 
citizenship, for he wanted to combine all the many nations 
conquered by Rome into one great people. 

The Crown refused. — Caesar had all the power of a king, 
though he did not claim the title. He may have wanted it, 
but he was too wise to take it. Mark Antony, the consul, 
one of his strong supporters, offered him a crown in public, 
but he refused it. But for all that he had many enemies, 
some of them true patriots, who felt that he had destroyed the 
republic, while others had personal reasons for hating him. 

The Assassination of Caesar. — A plot to take Caesar's 
life was formed by a party of his enemies, all of them 



238 ANCIENT HISTORY 

nobles, their leaders being named Bru'tus and Cas'sius. 
Brutus was Caesar's most trusted friend, but he was a 
patriot who thought he must kill him to save Rome. At 
a meeting of the senate held on the Ides of March (March 
15, 44 b,c.) these conspirators surrounded Caesar in the senate 
chamber and attacked him with 'their daggers. For a time 
he defended himself, but when he saw Brutus among them, 
he cried out, reproachfully, "ffi tu Brute f ("Thou, too, 
Brutus !") and ceased to struggle. He fell dead at the foot 
of Pompey's statue, pierced with twenty-three wounds. 

Caesar's Greatness. — Thus died the greatest man Rome 
ever knew, a man great as soldier, statesman, and party 
leader, and also an able orator, a learned scholar, and a 
skilled author. He wrote a history of his campaigns in 
Gaul, which is a model of that kind of writing. In almost 
every way he ranked with the world's greatest men. He 
was cruel in his wars, but all the Romans were that. 

A Family of Patriots. — It was a man named Brutus in 
the old days who led the rebellion that drove King Tarquin 
from Rome. The Brutus who helped to kill Caesar was of 
the same family of patriots. But it w T as too late now to save 
the liberty of Rome, and his fatal deed led to nothing more 
than bloodshed, for men appeared to take revenge on the 
murderers of Caesar and to seize the power which he had 
held. 

Antony and Octavius. — One of these men was Mark 
An'tony, the consul, who made a funeral oration over Caesar's 
dead body, in which he stirred up the > people against the 
plotters to such an extent that Brutus and Cassius had to 
hasten from the city to save their lives. Caesar had a nephew, 
named Caius Octa'vius, whom he adopted as his son and 
made his heir. Octavius was a youth of nineteen, but 




ROME 239 

many of the old soldiers looked on him as their leader and 
he put himself at their head. 

The Second Triumvirate. — Antony wanted to make 
himself master of the state. He had on his side Lep'idus, 
an old soldier, " master of the 
horse." Octavius opposed them, 
and there was some fighting. (■}$ 

Then the three came together 
and formed what was called the 
"Second Triumvirate." They ''~~'-- x ^i^^^§\ 
agreed to divide the supreme SWJ/Jl} "^^ 
power among them, and to mur- 
der their enemies as Sulla, and \l/liKv = s _ ^^^fflllw 
Marius had done. Several thou- %\VTO^2^iji 
sand leading Romans were slaugh- 
tered, chief among them being the Maek Antony - 
famous orator Cicero, who had made bitter speeches against 
Mark Antony. 

The Death of the Conspirators. — The first thing done 
by the triumvirs was to attack Brutus and Cassius, who were 
in Thrace with a large army. They were defeated at a place 
called Philip'pi in 42 b.c. After the battle Brutus and Cassius 
killed themselves. That ended the fight for the old republic. 

Antony loves Cleopatra. — The second triumvirate had 
much the same story as the first. Lepidus was a feeble 
man like Cassius, and soon dropped out of sight. And 
Octavius and Antony — like Caesar and Pompey — were soon 
at war. Antony had taken the East for his share and made 
Alexandria his capital, where he fell deeply in love with 
Cleopatra, the fascinating young queen of Egypt, who had 
formerly captivated Caesar. In order to marry her, he 
divorced his wife Octavia, the sister of Octavius. 



240 ANCIENT HISTORY 

The Fight at Actium. — This and other acts of Antony 
brought on war, and the fleets and armies of the rivals in 
power met at Ac'tium, on the west coast of Greece, in 31 
b.c. The soldiers only looked on, all the fighting being 




The Battle of Acttum. 

done by the ships. But in the midst of the battle Cleopatra 
fled in panic with her sixty ships. When Antony saw her 
going he lost his wits. Love drew him more than power, 
and he hastened after her. When it was known that he 
had gone, the fleet and army surrendered to Octavius. 

The End. of the Lovers. — The rest of the story of Antony 
and Cleopatra is like a scene in a tragedy. When Octavius 
came near Alexandria, Cleopatra concealed herself and sent 
word to Antony that she was dead. Filled with anguish at 
the news, the love sick man gave himself a mortal wound, 
and when he heard afterwards that she was alive, he had 
himself carried to her and died at her feet. Love was more 
to him than the mastery of the world. Cleopatra now tried 



ROME 241 

to win young Octavius by her arts, but when she saw that 
they had failed she had herself bitten, so the story goes, by 
an asp, a poisonous serpent of Egypt, and followed her lover 
to death. 

The Empire established. — So died the last monarch of 
Egypt, for that old kingdom was now (30 b.c.) made a 
province of Rome. Octavius Caesar was master of all the 
vast dominion of Rome, and was greeted, as Caesar had 
been, with the title of imperator, or commander-in-chief. 
He did not take the hated name of king. In the year 27 
b.c. he was saluted with the new title of Augustus, and this 
is the name by which he is known in history. All the old 
officials and old forms remained, but all the power was in 
his hands, and Rome had now fully changed from a republic 
into an empire. The royal title imperator has become 
emperor in English. 

SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF REPUBLICAN ROME. 

Rome founded (traditional date) 753 b.c. 

Ruled by seven (traditional) kings, from Romulus 

to Tarquin . 753-509 

Roman republic founded 509 

Secession of the Plebeians 494 

Tribunes of the people appointed and many other 

reforms granted . . . 494-367 

Laws of the Twelve Tables framed 451 

Rome taken and burned by the Gauls 390 

The Samnite, Latin, and other wars in Italy . 343-339 
Pyrrhus invades Italy ; is forced to leave after win- 
ning several victories 280-275 

The Romans masters of all Italy 264 

First Punic war (Rome and Carthage) ... 264-241 

Second Punic war 218-202 

Hannibal crosses the Alps and defeats the Romans 

in great battles 218-216 

16 



242 ANCIENT HISTORY 

Syracuse taken by Rome 212 

Defeat of Hannibal at Zama 202 

Defeat of Perseus at Pydna and conquest of Mace- 
donia 183 

Greece is made a Roman province 146 

Third Punic war; Carthage taken and destroyed . 146 

Conquest of the Spanish tribes 133 

Reforms and assassination of Tiberius and Caius 

Gracchus 133-120 

The war with Jugurtha 111-106 

Marius defeats the Cimbri and Teutons 102 

The Mithradatic war 88-63 

The rivalry of Marius and Sulla, and period of 

civil war at Rome 88-79 

Marius massacres his opponents 86 

Sulla does the same and is made perpetual dic- 
tator 83-81 

Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus form the First Trium- 
virate 60 

Caesar's triumphant campaign in Gaul 58-50 

Caesar's rivalry with Pompey ; he crosses the Ru- 
bicon and marches on Rome 49 

War between Caasar and Pompey ; Caesar's victory 

at Pharsalia 48 

Caesar assassinated by conspirators 44 

Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus form the Second 

Triumvirate 43 

Rrutus and Cassius, the leaders of the conspiracy 

against Caesar, defeated at Philippi 42 

Antony infatuated with Cleopatra ; quarrels with 

Octavius ; is defeated at Actium 31 

Octavius makes himself absolute ruler of Rome, 
with the title of Augustus Caesar 29 



CHAPTER VI 



ROME UNDER THE EARLY EMPERORS 



The Rulers of Rome. — You have now gone over the story 
of Rome, from its beginning in the little group of huts built 
by Romulus on the Palatine Hill, to the establishment of the 
vast empire of which Augustus Caesar was absolute monarch. 
It had been governed by kings, consuls, 
tribunes, and dictators, and was now 
under the rule of an emperor, with a 
mighty army to obey his every wish, and 
with all the people of the great empire 
the slaves of his will. Thus had van- 
ished the republic of Rome. 

The Extent of the Empire. — It is 
well to speak here of the extent of the 
Roman Empire. You have seen it 
spreading and spreading, at first through 
Italy and into Africa ; then through Eu- 
rope to east and west, and then far into 
Asia ; until finally it took in nearly all the civilized world. 
From east to west it was two thousand seven hundred miles 
in length, and it was more than one thousand miles broad 
from north to south. This far-reaching realm took in all 
the countries of Europe now known as Spain, France, Rel- 
gium, Switzerland, Greece, Turkey, and the lower parts of 
Germany and Austria. The Rhine and Danube Rivers 
bounded it on the north. In Africa it included the whole 
northern part of the continent from Morocco to Egypt and 

243 




Augustus Cesar. 



244 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



back to the great desert of Sahara. In Asia it embraced all 
of Asia Minor and Syria to the shores of the Red Sea. 

The Boundaries of Rome. — Some of the emperors after 
Augustus made Rome a little larger, but not much. They 
conquered the southern half of the British island, and built 
a wall across its northern part to keep out the fierce tribes 
of Scotland. They gained a district in the east, north of the 
Danube, called Dacia. In Asia they conquered Armenia and 
the old realm of Assyria. This was as far as they ever got. 
In Asia the warlike Parthians kept them from going farther. 
In Europe the wild tribes of the German forests proved 
unconquerable. So in later Rome most of the wars were 
among its own people, due to rebellions or to generals who 
wished to become emperor. 




Tkajan's Bridge over the Danube. 



The People and Government of the Empire. — We do 
not know how many people this mighty empire held. There 
may have been as many as a hundred million human beings 
in all. And hosts of these — perhaps not less than half of 
them — were held as slaves. The provinces and the cities 
were allowed to keep their old laws and customs, but they 
were put under governors and other officials sent from Rome, 
and had heavy taxes to pay. The rich fields of Africa sent 
to Rome much of the grain on which the people of that 
great city lived. The troops of the regular army, three 



ROME 



245 



hundred and fifty thousand strong, were scattered through 
the provinces. In Italy and Rome were the Prasto'rian 
guards of ten thousand men, tried soldiers all, who received 




PbjEtorian Guardsmen. 



double pay. They were instituted by Augustus to protect 
his life, and in time grew so powerful that they made any 
one they pleased emperor. 

The Splendor of Rome. — As for the city of Rome itself, 
the centre of this grand empire, it had grown to be the 
greatest city in the world. It is calculated that it must, at 
its highest state, have contained two millions and a half of 
people. Many of its buildings, its temples, palaces, theatres, 
etc., were great and magnificent, and the whole city was a 
splendid one. Augustus tells us that he " found the city 
brick and left it marble," and the emperors who came after 
him added to it many grand and stately buildings. The 
most famous of these were the vast Colise'um, where the 
greatest shows and games were held ; the Cap'itol, and the 



246 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



temples near it ; the Senate-House ; the Forum, where the 
people met ; the Pan'theon, or Temple of all the Gods ; and 
the noble triumphal arches, some of which still stand. At 
its largest the walls of Rome were twenty miles long, with 
thirty gates of entrance. But outside them were large and 
populous suburbs. 

Great Public "Works. — Rome was never such a splendid 
centre of beautiful architecture as Athens. But it went far 
beyond Athens in works for public use ; for the Roman 
people were practical where the Grecian people were artistic. 




Roman Amphitheatre at Nimes, France. 



Rome in its days of grandeur held four hundred and twenty 
temples. It had sixteen public baths built of marble, and 
with every convenience for bathers. It possessed seven 
mighty circuses and a number of theatres and amphithe- 
atres. There were very many palaces, public halls, col- 
umns, and porticos, and great aqueducts supplied the city 
and the baths with an abundance of pure and clear water, 



ROME 247 

which set going an immense number of fountains, many of 
them adorned with rich ornaments of Greek art. 

The Emperors. — In history, as in everything else, it is 
well to stop from time to time and look around us to find 
out where we are. That is what we have just been doing. 
Now, with Rome laid out before us, we may go on with the 
story of its emperors. It is a long and often a sickening 
story. There were more than seventy emperors in all, 
and among them were some of the worst monsters the 
world has ever known. It is true that there were high 
minded and noble men among them also, but history tells 
us more about the bad than it does about the good. None 
of them, good or bad alike, could save Rome, for after the 
age of Augustus it went on, stage by stage, to its decay 
and fall. 

The Power of Augustus. — Augustus, as we have seen, 
was cruel in his early days, when he agreed with Antony 
and Lepidus to kill all their enemies. It was base in him 
to permit the noble Cicero to be murdered. But as em- 
peror he showed himself a great and good ruler, and under 
him Rome reached its highest glory. He did not take the 
title of king, for he knew how the Romans hated it. So he 
let the senate stand, with all the forms of the old repuplic. 
The consuls, tribunes, and other officials were still elected, 
but this was a mere show, for all the power was his. He 
ruled the people mildly and justly, and they were satisfied 
with the shadow of their old free government. 

Writers of the Golden Age. — Augustus was a wise 
patron of literature, and the greatest writers of Rome 
flourished during his reign. These included the celebrated 
poets, Virgil, Ovid, and Horace. Among the greatest of 
Roman prose writers were Cicero and Caesar, who just 



248 ANCIENT HISTORY 

preceded his reign, and the famous historians, Livy and 
Sallust. These writers belong to what is known as the 
"Golden Age of Roman Literature." Other fine writers 
came soon after, but those named are the most esteemed. 

The Temple of Janus. — The reign of Augustus was a 
long one. It lasted from the battle of Actium, in 31 B.C., to 
14 a.d., a period of forty-four years. They were happy 
years for Rome, for the emperor reigned well and everything 
flourished. Never had Rome been so little troubled with 
war. In the city was a very old temple built of bronze and 
called the Temple of Ja'nus. Janus was a Latin god, looked 
upon as the opener of the gates of heaven. The gates of 
his temple were left open in times of war, and were closed 
only in times of peace. They were closed three times 
during the reign of Augustus. They had been closed only 
twice before during the long history of the city. 

Varus and the Germans. — The gates of the Temple of 
Janus had to be thrown open near the end of the great 
emperor's reign, for war came again. A strong Roman 
army crossed the Rhine, under a general named Va/rus, and 
tried to conquer the German tribes of that region. Rut these 
rose against him under their brave chief Her'mann, — Ar- 
min'ius, the Romans called him, — and the army of Varus 
suffered a terrible defeat. Twenty thousand of its soldiers 
lay dead in the German swamps and woods. It was a 
terrible blow to the old emperor, who kept crying in agony, 
"Varus, give me back my legions." He died a few years 
after, in his seventy-seventh year. 

The Birth of Christ. — There was one very important 
event in the reign of Augustus of which we must speak. 
You may notice that we give the date of his accession as 31 
b.c, and of his death as 14 a.d. This signifies that Christ 



ROME 



249 



was born during his reign. The Great Redeemer was still a 
boy in Judea when Augustus died, but the future history of 
Rome was to be wonderfully affected by His birth. 

Augustus given Divine Honors. — The senate would have 
liked to make a god of Augustus. Before his time the title 
of Augustus had been sacred to the gods, and they now de- 
creed him divine honors and had temples erected for the peo- 
ple to worship him in. Some of the later emperors — half 
insane ones — wanted the people to worship them as gods 
while they still lived. We possess the name of Augustus 
still in the month August, as we 
do that of Julius Caesar in the 
month July. The divisions of 
the year we now possess were 
made by Caesar. 

The Pate of the Emperors. — 
The remaining history of Rome, 
as written, is far more that of the 
emperors than of the people. 
And of these emperors the greater 
number are not worth mention- 
ing, even by name. Most of 
them were so cruel or worthless 
that the people or the army got The EM p EEOB Tiberius in old age, 
rid of them by murder. Out of crowned with oak-leaves. 

seventy-three in all, forty-two 

were murdered, three killed themselves, and two were forced 

to leave the throne. 

The Twelve Caesars. — History has much to say of the 
Twelve Caesars, who included Julius and Augustus and the 
ten that followed, though the later emperors also took the 
name of Caesar. Among the ten who followed Aagustus 




250 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



were some of the most cruel of the tyrants. Tibe'rius 
(14 a.d.), the step-son of Augustus, was the first of these. 
He was gloomy and suspicious, and had so many men put 
to death that all the people of note were in a state of mortal 
fear. The land was full of spies, and a word, or even a 
thought, against the emperor was enough to bring death. 
The great event in the reign of Tiberius was the crucifixion 
of Christ, at Jerusalem. 

The "Wickedness and Polly of Caligula. — Chief among 
the wicked emperors were Calig'ula and Ne'ro. Caligula 
(37 a.d.) was a man of weak mind, and he acted like a 
madman. He made his favorite horse a consul and fed it 

with gilded oats in a golden manger. 
He declared that he was a god, and 
had the heads taken off the statues 
of Jupiter and his own put in their 
place. Any one at whom he pointed 
his finger or nodded his head was at 
once killed. He wished that "all 
the people of Rome had but one 
neck, so that he might cut it off at 
a single blow." 

Nero and his Cruelty. — Nero 
(54 a.d.) had been educated by the 
great philosopher Sen'eca, and for 
five years he reigned quietly and 
mildly. Then he entered upon a 
career of wickedness and cruelty, murdering his mother and 
wife to get them out of his way. In his reign there came a 
great fire which burned a large part of Rome. While the 
flames rose Nero sat in a high place playing a lyre and chant- 
ing a poem. It was said that the fire had been started by 




The Emperor Nero as Victor 
in the Greek Games. 



ROME 



251 



his orders. To silence this charge he blamed it on the 
Christians, of whom there were many then in the city, and 
he began a dreadful persecution of this new sect, putting its 
members to death in the most cruel ways. Many of them 
were covered with pitch and burned in the gardens of the 
palace as human torches. In the end the people rose 
against this monster of iniquity, and he killed himself to 
escape their wrath. 

The Vile Domitian. — Domi'tian (81 a.d.), the last of the 
Twelve Caesars, was another cruel and wicked tyrant, who 
had great numbers of noble Romans put to death, and 
whose favorite amusement 
Avas to kill flies with a pin. 
Yet he called himself a god 
and put up his statues to be 
worshipped. And he perse- 
cuted the Jews because they 
would not worship these 
statues. He persecuted the 
Christians also, as Nero had 
done. 

Vespasian and Titus. — 
Before Domitian there were 
two good emperors, — Vespa'- 
sian and his son Ti'tus. Titus 
was a brother of Domitian, 

yet he was so kind and generous that men called him the 
'.' Delight of Mankind." He would not sign a death warrant, 
and when a day passed without his doing a good deed he 
said that day was lost. 

The Siege of Jerusalem. — The great event of the reign 
of Vespasian (67 a.d.) was the siege of Jerusalem. The 




Arch of Titus. 



252 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



Jews rebelled against the Romans, and Titus was sent to put 
them down. They crowded into Jerusalem until there were 
more than a million of them within the walls. The siege 
lasted six months, and in the end the city and temple were 
burned, large numbers of the people killed, and the remain- 
der sold or banished. Since that dreadful event the Jews 
have had no country of their own, but have been wanderers 
over the face of the earth. 

Two Great Disasters. — There were two great disasters 
in the reign of Titus (79 a.d.) One of these was a destruc- 
tive fire in Rome, like that in the reign of Nero. Also the 
volcano Vesuvius broke into a violent eruption and buried 
in ashes and lava the cities of Pompeii (Pom-pa'ye) and Her- 




Bas-Relief of Earthquake at Pompeii. 



cula'neum. The eruption had been preceded by a disastrous 
earthquake. Pompeii has been dug out in our own times, 
and we have learned from its ruins much about the way the 
Romans lived. Another event of this time was the building 
.by Vespasian and Titus of the immense amphitheatre called 
the Coliseum, a vast structure whose walls in great part still 
stand. It had seats for eighty thousand people. 

The Five Good Emperors. — After the death of Domitian 
there came the "five good emperors," — Ner'va, Tra'jan, 
Ha'drian, Antoni'nus Pi' us, and Mar'cus Aure'lius, — who 
reigned from 96 to 180 a.d. Under them Rome prospered 
and the people were happy and contented. Trajan was a sol- 



ROME 



253 



dier, who conquered Dacia and parts of Asia, and gave Rome 
its greatest extension. Hadrian travelled much in the empire 
and erected many splendid buildings. Antoninus was a man 
who loved justice, and tried to make the people good and 




The Emperor Antoninus Pius. 



happy, and Marcus Aurelius was one of the last of the 
philosophers and a man of the noblest character. 

Severus and Caracalla. — There is not much to be said of 
most of the emperors that followed. Septim'ius Seve'rus 
(193 b.c.) was a valiant soldier who won victories in Britain 
and Parthia. Caracal'la (211 a.d.) was a despicable wretch, 
yet he did one memorable thing, — he made all the freemen 



254 ANCIENT HISTORY 

of the empire citizens of Rome. This he did that he might 
put on them a special tax which only citizens paid. An- 
other emperor, Alexander Seve'rus (222 a.d.), loved to be 
with the wise and good, and put over the doorway of his 
palace the words of Christ, " Do unto others that which you 
would they should do unto you. 1 ' 




The Emperor Septimius Severus. 

. Great Coming- Changes. — Christianity was now spread- 
ing rapidly in the empire, and the time was coming in which 
it would take the place of the old heathen religions. And 
a change of a different kind was at hand, for the barbarous 
tribes of the north and east were pressing severely upon the 
frontiers of Rome and threatening the empire on every side. 
It is this period of invasion with which we have next to do. 



CHAPTER VII 
THE LATER PERIOD OF THE EMPIRE 

Rome's Last Two Centuries. — We have now before us 
the last two centuries of Roman history, those in which it 
moved on rapidly to its fall. Year by year, as time went on, 
the mighty empire grew weaker and more corrupt, and, 
strong as it seemed, it was like a tree that is rotten at the 
core. 

Three Great Events. — Three great events mark these 
later days, — the growth of Christianity until it became the 
religion of the empire ; the founding of a new capital city in 
the East, which robbed old Rome of much of its power and 
glory ; and the invasion of the empire by the wild and 
daring tribes of Germany and the East. These are the 
events with which we shall deal in the present chapter. 

Religion in Rome. — The old religion of Rome was much 
like that of Greece. Most of their gods were the same, 
though they bore different names. But as the empire spread 
outward new religions came in from Egypt, Syria, and other 
lands. They were all welcome. The Romans did not care 
what form of worship the people had, so they let the govern- 
ment alone. 

The Early Christians. — It was not that way with the 
Christian religion. This was no idol worship, like the 
others. It made its way among the poor and obscure, 
instead of the rich and noble. Its meetings were held at 
night and secretly, and, as the people did not know what 
took place at these meetings, they began to believe that base 

255 



256 ANCIENT HISTORY 

and vile things were done ; and as the Christians sought 
new converts on all sides, and had a close and secret organ- 
ization, the emperors began to suspect them of devising 
dangerous political plots. 

The Persecutions. — It was this that led to the persecu- 
tion of the Christians. The first persecution was by the 




The Emperoe Trajan crowned with Laurel. 

wicked emperor Nero, who merely sought to hide his own 
crimes by putting these poor and pious people cruelly to 
death. But they were also persecuted by some of the best 
emperors, like Trajan and Marcus Aurelius, who suspected 
them of other than religious aims. Yet persecution seemed 
only to make their numbers grow more rapidly, and in time 



ROME 257 

the Christian faith undermined all the old heathen idolatries 
of the empire, making its way among those of noble birth 
as well as among the humble and obscure. We shall see 
how it even reached the throne of the emperor and was 
made the state religion of Rome. 

Severus and Maximin. — The emperor Alexander Seve- 
rus was a man of Christian spirit, and, as we have said, had 
Christ's great commandment written over the doorway of 
his palace. But he was too good a man for his soldiers, 
who killed him and put in his place a peasant soldier from 
Thrace, named Max'imin, whose only warrant for the dignity 
was that he was a giant in size and as strong as an ox. You 
may see that Rome had fallen very low when it could rest 
content under emperors like this. 

Fifty Years of "Weakness. — For the next fifty years 
all the emperors were too weak to keep back the tribes 
of the north, and it seemed as if the empire would fall to 
pieces. Then there came some good, strong men, who 
drove the barbarians back into their forests. There is 
one story to tell about this time, that of the famous queen 
Zenobia. 

The Kingdom of Palmyra. — In the middle of the Syrian 
desert, between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates, there 
was a splendid city named Palmy'ra, at that time ruled over 
by Prince Odena'tus. This prince had helped the Romans 
in their wars with the Persians, who had now overturned 
the Parthian Empire and started a new Persian realm. The 
senate of Rome rewarded the prince of Palmyra for his 
services with honors and dignities. But when he saw how 
weak the Romans were growing, he thought he would like 
to be free and build up a strong kingdom of his own, with 
Palmyra for its capital. 

17 



258 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



Zenobia and Aurelian. — Odenatus died before he could 
carry out his plans, but his wife, Zeno'bia, who succeeded 
him as queen, was as ambitious as he had been. Zenobia 
was descended from. Cleopatra, the famous Egyptian queen, 




The Ruins of Palmyra. 



and was as charming and attractive as that celebrated 
beauty. She now called herself the " Queen of the East," 
and defied the power of Rome. But there was then a 
strong and warlike emperor, named Aurc'lian, and he 
marched against Zenobia, defeated her armies in several 
battles, and took her prisoner. When he got back to Rome he 
had a triumph, in which the captive queen was shown bound 
in golden chains. But she was not put to death, like so 
many of the captives of Rome, but was given a beautiful 
villa, where she afterwards lived happily with her children, 



ROME 259 

and no doubt liked her quiet villa better than she had done 
her unquiet throne. Travellers in the East to-day visit the 
old city of Palmyra and admire its magnificent ruins. 

Diocletian and Maximian. — One of the great emperors 
came to the throne in the year 284 a.d. He was named 
Diocle'tian, and was the first to do away with the names and 
forms of the old republic, which had been kept up until 
now. Another thing he did was to take a soldier named 
Maxim'ian to rule with him, one of them having charge of 
the East and the other of the West. He thought that Rome 
was too large for one man to rule it. Each of them was 
called Augustus, and they took two others, whom they called 
Caesars, to govern the distant provinces. So Rome had now 
four rulers. 

The Christians persecuted. — Diocletian did one cruel 
thing. He started a persecution against the Christians, 
ordering his soldiers to tear down their churches and put 
them to death wherever they could be found. No doubt he 
thought they were a dangerous people, with secret plots. 
For ten long years this dreadful work of torture and terror 
was kept up, many of the Christians fleeing for refuge to the 
vast catacombs or quarries under the city of Rome, where 
they dwelt and worshipped and buried their dead for 
years. 

Diocletian resigns. — After twenty years Diocletian got 
tired of reigning and gave up his throne. Maximian had to 
do the same, and the two Caesars, Constan'tius and Gale'rius, 
took their places, and chose two new Caesars. Maximian 
soon began to pine for his lost dignity, and wrote to Dio- 
cletian, urging him to take back the power he had given up. 
But Diocletian had found the true secret of happiness, and 
wrote back to him, " I wish you would come to Salona and 



260 ANCIENT HISTORY 

see the cabbages I have planted and raised ; if you did, you 
would never again speak to me of empire." 

Constantine's "Wars. — And now we come to one of the 
greatest events in the history of Rome. Constantius died 
at the city of York, in the British island, and the army 
proclaimed his son Con'stantine as emperor. Others 
claimed the throne, until there were no less than six who 
wanted it, and it took eighteen years of fighting before 
Constantine overcame them all and made himself sole 
emperor. 

Christianity triumphs. — While marching to fight one of 
the battles of these wars, so we are told, Constantine saw in 
the heavens a great shining cross, on which was the inscrip- 
tion in Greek, "By this conquer." Many doubt this story, 
but at any rate Constantine raised the standard of the cross 
and under its folds he won the battle. After that he pro- 
nounced himself a Christian, and in the year 313 a.d. he 
issued at Milan a decree in which, while all forms of worship 
were tolerated, Christianity was made the religion of the 
state. Was not this a wonderful change for a religion whose 
believers had been so terribly persecuted less than ten years 
before ? A few years afterwards the emperor Ju'lian tried to 
overthrow Christianity and bring back the pagan worship, 
but he did not succeed. 

. A New Capital • built. — There was another important 
thing which Constantine did. Some of the later emperors 
had never set foot in Rome, and Constantine went so far as 
to build a new capital for the kingdom at a more central 
point. This was at an old city called Byzan'tium, on the 
Bosporus, the stream that flows between Europe and Asia. 
He called this city Constantinople, or " City of Constantine," 
and it soon grew into a great and imperial city, which took 



ROME 



261 



away for the time much of the importance of ancient Rome. 
And in it rose splendid Christian churches to take the place 
of the old Greek and Roman temples. 




The Hippodrome at Constantinople. 

The Barbarians. — Thus it was that the noble Christian 
faith displaced the old idolatry and became firmly estab- 
lished in Europe. It was soon to spread among the heathen 
barbarians of the north. It is of these barbarians that we 
must next speak : how they came out of their forest depths 
and swept down like a dread torrent over the empire of 
Rome, plundering and burning its cities, sweeping away its 
greatness and glory, and planting barbarism where civiliza- 
tion had so long flourished. 

Dealings with the Barbarians. — We have seen how, 
when Rome was young, the Gauls captured and destroyed 
it. We have seen how, in later days, the Cimbri and 
Teutons were met and destroyed by Marius. We have 
seen how Caesar conquered the tribes of Gaul, and how 
Varus and his legions were destroyed in Germany. In vain 



262 ANCIENT HISTORY 

did the Romans try to subdue the valiant tribes dwelling 
north of the Rhine and the Danube, and this great region 
was the nest of the multitudes who were to put an end to 
the empire of Rome. 

The Gothic Irruption. — When De'cius was emperor 
(249-251 a.d.) the Goths crossed the Danube, defeated the 
Romans, took the city of Philippop'olis, and massacred one 
hundred thousand of its people. In another battle they 
killed the emperor himself. Later on they burned the cele- 
brated temple at Eph'esus. Another emperor, Vale'rian, 
was taken prisoner by the Persian king, who took him about 
in chains, and used him as a footstool to mount his horse. 
That showed how little the power of Rome was then 
feared. 

The Germans, Picts, and Moors. — A century after this 
we find the barbarians more daring still. The Germans 
cross the Rhine, plunder the country to the south, and then 
escape over the river with their booty. The Saxon pirates 
sail down the seas and ravage the coasts of Gaul and 
Britain. The Picts of Scotland break through the Roman 
wall and drive the Romans from nearly the whole island of 
Britain. The Moorish tribes of Africa force back the Romans 
to the shores of the sea. On every side barbarism is press- 
ing over the outworks of civilization. 

The Huns and the Goths. — From the east came the next 
great outbreak. The Goths were quietly settled in the Roman 
province of Dacia, northeast of the Danube, and had been 
converted to Christianity, when out of Asia came a terrible 
horde of savages called the Huns,- the most frightful people 
Europe had yet seen. The Goths fled before them in mortal 
fear and appeared on the Danube, which they begged per- 
mission to cross, saying that the Huns would kill them all, 




ROME 263 

and that they would be the faithful friends and allies of the 
Romans. Their request was granted, and a vast multitude 
of them crossed the great river. 

Theodosius the Great. — The Romans did not treat them 
well, and soon there was a quarrel, and a great battle was 
fought, in which the emperor Va'lens was 
killed (378 a.d.) The Goths were defeated 
by the next emperor, Theodo'sius the 
Great, who took large numbers of them 
into the Roman armies. Theodosius was 
the last great Roman ruler. When he died, 
395 a.d., he divided the empire between 
his two sons, Hono'rius being made em- G ^ EMAN auxiliaries. 
peror of the West, and Arca'dius emperor (From a second 

century manuscript. ) 

of the East. This was the beginning of 

the "Eastern Empire," which was to last a thousand years. 

That of the West was near its end. 

The Victories of Stilicho. — The Goths had now an able 
leader named Al'aric, who claimed that his people had been 
badly treated by the R.omans and led them down into Greece, 
where he swept in a plundering raid from Therm opylae to 
Sparta. The raiders were driven out by a brave general 
named StiFicho, but they soon crossed the Alps and invaded 
Italy. Here Stilicho met them again and drove them back 
in a terrible defeat. The Italians had been in a panic of 
fear, and were now so glad that they gave Stilicho a grand 
triumph — the last one Rome ever saw. 

Alaric in Rome. — Alaric had gone back only for a 
time. Five years later the foolish emperor Honorius 
grew jealous of his great general and had him treacher- 
ously murdered. Then back into Italy came Alaric and 
his Goths and marched on Rome (410 a.d.). They burst 



264 ANCIENT HISTORY 

into the capital at night, and the people "were awakened 
by the tremendous sound of the Gothic trumpet." 

Six Days of Pillag-e. — Just eight hundred years before 
that the Gauls had captured and destroyed Rome. Alaric 
was a Christian, and he ordered his men to spare the 
churches and the lives of the people. But for six days and 
nights the rude barbarians pillaged the city, and there was 
much slaughter and burning for all their promises. Then 
Alaric led his men away, laden down with the spoils of the 
Eternal City. 

The End at Hand. — The end of the empire was near at 
hand. On all sides the barbarian hordes were swarming 
over the borders. Britain was lost and Gaul was drained 
of its troops. Hosts of warriors spread over the plains and 
valleys of Gaul and poured into Spain. The Vandals, a 
fierce and cruel people, occupied the south of Spain, crossed 
into Africa, drove out the Romans, and made the old city of 
Carthage their capital. The Goths left Italy and founded a 
new kingdom in the south of Gaul and north of Spain. 
Thus the old empire was fast being torn to pieces. 

Attila the Hun. — Now we must go back to the Huns, 
who had driven the Goths across the Danube. They were 
led by an able and daring chief named At'tila, who ravaged 
the Eastern Empire and forced the emperor to buy him off 
with an immense sum of gold. Then he marched with his 
savage followers, seven hundred thousand strong, to Gaul. 
Such frightful-looking men were they that all Europe shook 
with fear. Attila boasted that the " grass never grew on the 
spot where his horse had trod," and the frightened people 
called him the "Scourge of God." 

Defeat and Death of Attila. — But iE'tius, Rome's last 
great general, met him with an army of Romans and Goths 



ROME 265 

on the plain of Chalons (Sha-lon'), and after a long and 
fierce battle drove him back in utter defeat. The loss of 
the Huns is estimated at from one hundred thousand to 
three hundred thousand warriors. Yet the next year Attila 
was in Italy, committing frightful devastations. Many of its 
flourishing cities were taken and utterly destroyed. He was 
induced to spare Rome by the entreaties of its bishop and 
the payment of a large sum of money, and the next year 
(453 a.d.), happily for Europe, he died. 




3:^=*§fe!0~ 



Attila, the Hun, the "Scourge of God." 



The Sack of Genseric. — But Rome was not to escape. 
Its fate was to come from Carthage, the city which it had 
once so ruthlessly destroyed. This city was now the capital 
of the fierce Vandals, whose king, Gen'seric, sailed for Italy 
in the year 455 a.d. Leo, bishop of Rome, again sought to 
save the city, but Genseric said that the plunder belonged to 
his warriors, and have it they should. All he would promise 
was the lives of the people. For fourteen days and nights 



266 ANCIENT HISTORY 

the plundering went on ; palaces, temples, and churches 
were stripped of their rich ornaments ; and when the ships 
of Genseric sailed for Africa they carried away more than 
thirty thousand of the people as slaves. Carthage was at 
last avenged. 

The Last Emperor. — The last of the Roman emperors 
was a child of six years old, bearing the name of Rome's 
first king, Romulus. In disdain this child was called Augus'- 
tulus, " the little Augustus. 1 ' In 476 a.d. a German chief 
named Odoa'cer dethroned this boy, abolished the title of 
emperor, and proclaimed himself King of Italy. Thus ended 
the Roman Empire of the West. 



CHAPTER VIII 
ROMAN ARTS AND CUSTOMS 

You know something now of the history of Rome, its 
humble origin, its great progress, its power and glory, its 
decline and fall. It remains to speak of the character and 
customs of the Romans, their great works in architecture 
and art, their literature, and their amusements. 

"War a Business in Rome. — War was the business of 
the Romans. They had a passion for conquest, and they 
succeeded because they knew how to bear and overcome 
defeat, and never gave up an enterprise until they won suc- 
cess. But they were a cruel and ruthless people in their 
wars, and the sum of human suffering they caused was 
frightful to think of. All the ancient nations were cruel 
in their wars, but there were none more so than the 
Romans. 

The Roman Army. — The Roman army was divided into 
legions, as ours is divided into brigades and corps. A legion 
was made up of three thousand foot soldiers and three hun- 
dred horsemen. Later on it contained from five thousand 
to seven thousand men, who were divided up into cohorts, 
or regiments, and centuries, or companies. For a long 
time every citizen of proper age had to serve in the army, 
but in later years soldiers were enlisted for twenty years 
and were paid for their services. As the empire grew old 
many of the Goths and Germans were taken into the army, 
and there they learned how to fight against as well as to 

267 



268 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



fight for Rome. And they also learned what riches there 
were to be won in the great cities. 

The Arms of the Soldiers. — The Roman soldier was 
armed with the pilum, a heavy spear, six feet long. This he 

flung at the foe when a few paces 
away, and then attacked with his 
short, stout sword. In front were 
the light-armed velites, who threw 
their javelins and then ran back. 
The Roman camp was always for- 
tified with a ditch and a palisade 
of stakes, even if they halted for 
only a single night. In attacking 
cities they used military engines, 
such as the battering-ram, the bal- 
lista for throwing stones, the cata- 
pult for hurling darts, and the 
movable tower which was pushed 
up to and overlooked the walls. 
Each soldier had to carry on the 
march, besides his arms, grain 
enough to last him from seventeen to thirty days, wooden 
stakes for the camp, and tools for intrenching. 

A Roman Triumph. — We have spoken of the triumphs of 
certain generals. These were grand triumphal processions 
and were popular events in Rome. Every general when 
returning from a victorious war was granted a triumph. 
A splendid procession marched up the Via Sacra (sacred 
street) to the Capitol, where a bull or an ox was sacrificed 
to Jupiter. The victor entered the city by the gate of 
triumph, in a four-horse chariot, and was met by the senate 
and the great officials. In his train were the spoils and the 




A Roman Soldier. 



ROME 



269 



distinguished captives taken in the war and the other pris- 
oners in chains ; also the civil authorities, the priests with 
the animal to be sacrificed, the victor crowned with laurel in 
his chariot, and the army in the rear. 




Triumphal Arch of Constantine. 



Roman Cruelty, — Many of these triumphs were splendid 
displays, and were made great public holidays, the temples 
being thrown open and adorned with flowers, and the peo- 
ple thronging the streets in their best attire, or gazing from 
balconies or scaffoldings. But the innate cruelty of the 
Romans is shown in the fact that the great captives, after 
being shown in the triumph, were often thrust into dark 
dungeons and left there to perish in misery. 

Roman Amusements. — The amusements of the Romans 
also showed how cruel they were at heart, for what they 



270 ANCIENT HISTORY 

most enjoyed was a game in which animals or men were 
killed before their eyes. They never cared much for the 
theatre, but they were fond of the pantomime, in which 
everything was in show, for their theatres were too large for 
many to hear what was said on the stage. What they most 
enjoyed were the chariot races in the circus and the fights of 
animals and gladiators in the arena. 

Animal Combats. — The amphitheatre, in which the fights 
of the gladiators were given, was an immense oval-shaped 
building, with rows of seats that held thousands of spectators 
and with a sand-strewn level place or arena in the centre. 
In this place wild animals from all quarters were set loose, 
— bears and wolves from Europe, elephants and tigers from 
Asia, lions, leopards, and other animals from Africa, — and 
were goaded on to bloody and terrible combats. 

The Arena. — The fights of animals in time grew too tame 
for the Roman. He longed to see men fighting, with all the 
skill and art of which they were capable, and reddening 
with their blood the sands of the arena, or to see Christians 
or other victims exposed to the rending ferocity of wild 
animals maddened by darts. 

The Gladiators. — It was the combats of gladiators that 
especially gratified the bloodthirsty Romans, and they would 
gather in vast multitudes to see men slay one another on 
the sand of the arena. At first the gladiators were made 
up of slaves, captives, or criminals. Afterwards free citi- 
zens offered themselves, — desperate men of all classes. At 
last knights and senators and even women descended into 
the arena. 

How the Gladiators fought. — The gladiators fought 
sometimes in pairs, sometimes in great companies ; on foot, 
on horseback, in chariots, and armed with weapons of all 



ROME 271 

kinds. Some carried nets with which they sought to en- 
tangle their opponent and then kill him. The dead bodies 
were hauled with hooks from the arena and fresh sand was 
strewn over the pools of blood. A wounded gladiator often 
appealed to the audience for his life. His safety depended 
on their whim. They extended their hands, and his fate 
was decided by the way in which their thumbs were turned, 
whether up or down. 

Immense Entertainments. — Some of these shows were 
on a very grand scale. We are told of twenty maddened 
elephants driven in on six hundred war captives. The 
emperor Titus, when the Coliseum was finished, gave games 
that lasted one hundred days ; and Trajan, after his victories, 
kept up his shows for a still longer time. In these, ten 
thousand gladiators fought and wild beasts in still greater 
numbers were slain. 

The Closing- of the Arena. — You have read how Stilicho, 
after defeating Alaric and the Goths, celebrated his victory 
by a grand triumph, the last Rome ever saw. In the same 
year (404 a.d.) the last fight of gladiators was seen. These 
were pagan spectacles ; the Christians always beheld them 
with horror, and were eager to have them abolished. On 
this occasion a Christian monk named Telem'achus ran 
into the arena during a combat, rushed between the gladia- 
tors, and was instantly killed with weapons thrown by the 
people, who were furious at this interruption of their sports. 
But they soon repented of this act, and the emperor Hono- 
rius issued an edict which brought these bloody shows to 
an end forever. 

The Use of the Arch. — In their great works of archi- 
tecture the Romans showed their practical spirit, where the 
Greeks had shown their love for art. They had usefulness 



272 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



in view in their greatest works. The principle of the arch, 
which had been known ages before, was first put into com- 
mon use by the Romans. We see it used in the vast dome 
of their great circular temple, the Pantheon. We see it in 
their massive stone bridges, many of which remain in various 
parts of the empire. We see it in their grand triumphal 
arches and their lofty aqueducts, which were carried by arch- 
ways across the deepest valleys. 



f^l i 


f ..:■-■;' 




■ 





The Baths of Cakacalla. 



The Great Aqueducts. — The practical genius of Rome is 
to be seen in all its remains. Of the great aqueducts there 
were fourteen in all, the longest being over sixty miles in 
length. They usually ran below the surface, but in places 
they were carried on arches more than one hundred feet 



ROME 273 

high. Others of the Roman works were the great solidly 
paved military roads, the fine harbors, and the drainage 
canals cut through miles of solid rock. 

The Bathing-Houses. — The water brought into Rome by 
the aqueducts was largely used in the Thermae, or baths, 
which were among the finest structures in the city, bathing 
being a passion with the Romans. In these buildings there 
were conveniences for cold, hot, tepid, and swimming baths ; 
also gymnasia, museums, libraries, conversation rooms, 
grounds with pleasant walks and full of statues, and every 
aid to luxury and recreation. They were like great public 
club-houses, for they were open free of charge to the people. 

Free Distribution of Corn. — The provision for the free 
enjoyment of the citizens was not confined to the baths, the 
races in the circus, the theatres, and the gladiatorial shows, 
but went so far that food was distributed free. The corn 
brought from Africa and elsewhere was freely given to the 
citizens, of whom over three hundred thousand were thus 
fed in the palmy days of Rome. It was a ruinous system, 
though it was instituted by the patriot Caius Gracchus. It 
produced general idleness and had much to do with the de- 
velopment of vice and immorality. 

The Early Literature. — Something has already been said 
about the writers of Rome in the age of Augustus. There 
is little more that need be said, for much of the literature of 
Rome was a copy of that of Greece. For many centuries 
Rome had no writers. Then there came several writers of 
plays, but they got their plots and much of their language 
from the Greek comedians. We have spoken of the great 
writers of the " Golden Age," but there were others of earlier 
date. One of these was Lucil'ius, the first noted writer of 
satire. Another was Lucre'tius, whose great poem, "On 

13 



274 ANCIENT HISTORY 

the Nature of Things," is a remarkable combination of 
science and poetry. 

"Writers of the Silver Age. — After the "Golden Age" came 
the " Silver Age, 1 ' in which the most famous writers were 
Pliny (Plin'e) the Elder, whose great work is his " Natural 
History; 1 ' Pliny the Younger, the charming letter- writer; 
Tacitus (Tas'i-tus), the historian, whose chief work is his 
"Germania;" Ju' venal, the greatest of the satirical poets; 
and Sen'eca, who wrote brilliantly on ethics and other sub- 
jects. We must also name the two philosophers, Epicte'tus, 
the slave, and Marcus Aurelius, the emperor. • The slave 
was as wise as the emperor, and their ethical sayings are 
still highly prized. 

Legal Lore of Rome. — The Romans did not imitate the 
Greeks in all their writings. They were original in satire, 
and also in legal lore. It was in the law that the practical 
character of the Romans best showed itself. Here they were 
not pupils but teachers, and one of the greatest gifts of Rome 
to the modern world was its splendid system of laws. We 
have spoken of the "Laws of the Twelve Tables," which 
every school-boy had to learn by heart. Hundreds of other 
laws followed these, until there was an immense number of 
them. 

Justinian and the Laws. — In the year 527 a.d. Justinian 
became emperor of the Eastern Empire. He set a commis- 
sion at work to collect and arrange the laws of Rome. The 
result was a grand legal work, the Corpus Juris Civilis, or 
"Rody of the Civil Law." This has had a wonderful effect 
on the legal systems of Europe, and is the great foundation 
of modern law. 

Rights of the Roman Father. — The Roman father could 
do what he pleased with his children. He could sell his son 



ROME 275 

as a slave or put him to death if he wished, and this could 
be done even after the boy had grown up and married. The 
deformed or sickly child was usually drowned at birth, though 
it was rare to put an older boy to death. Every man had 
the right to commit suicide if he wished, and no one could 
legally interfere. If tired of life, a man would sometimes 
open his veins amid his friends and family, and talk with them 
as he slowly bled to death. This w r as often done by order 
of the emperors. The philosopher Seneca was ordered to 
kill himself in this way by the tyrant Nero. 

Education in Rome. — Education in Rome was more prac- 
tical than in Greece. Boys were taught law, rhetoric, and 
oratory, for public speaking was an important art under the 
republic. In later times they studied Greek and carefully 
read and analyzed the great works of literature from Homer 
down. At sixteen the boy reached the legal age of manhood 
and put on the dress of man. 

The Roman Dress. — The dress worn by men was the toga, 
a loose upper garment, under which a closer tunic was worn. 
Only citizens of Rome could wear the toga, which was of pure 
white wool and nearly semicircular in form. It was thrown 
over the left shoulder and brought round the body. Sandals, 
or a kind of shoe, were worn on the feet. Roman women 
wore an inner tunic and a loose over-dress, confined at the 
waist by a girdle, and ending in a deep border which reached 
to the feet. A kind of shawl was worn in the street, and 
many ornaments were used. 

The Privileges of "Women. — The unmarried girl was 
usually kept in the house and out of sight, but the married 
woman had much more freedom. She might attend the 
races at the circus or the shows at the theatre and the 
amphitheatre, and had far more liberty than the Grecian 



276 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



woman. Divorce was very common in the later days of 
Rome, for the husband could divorce his wife with little or 
no excuse. 

The Roman House. — The discovery of the ruins of Pom- 
peii, which, as has been said, was buried under ashes from 
Vesuvius in 79 a.d., has taught us many useful things about 




The Tomb of Hadrian. 



the Roman houses. First came the vestibule, often with 
rows of statues or other ornaments ; then a doorway deco- 
rated with ivory, gold, and tortoise shell, and with the word 
salve ("welcome") on the threshold. This opened to the 
atrium., or reception-room, which was divided by rows of 
pillars from the wings. Here were the family hearth and the 
figures of the ancestral deities. Farther in was a large salon 



ROME 277 

called the peristyle, with a mosaic floor and finely decorated 
walls. Such was one of the houses of the wealthy, in which 
might be found ivory bedsteads, tables of precious wood, side- 
boards laden with precious plate, and everything conducive 
to luxury and display. We fancy there was very little of 
this sort of thing in the houses of the poor. 

The Villa. — These were the city houses. In the country 
there were many beautiful villas. Pliny the Younger, who 
was a man of wealth, tells us about his villas, and they 
must have been very fine from his description. Around 
them were handsome gardens and beautiful groves, foun- 
tains, and summer-houses, boxwood hedges, and everything 
to make the place charming and attractive. 

The Farm. — In the early days the Romans were fond of 
farming. You have read of Cincinnatus and his farm. In 
later times the farm labor was left to the slaves, who did all 
the hard and menial work in Rome. At first the farmers 
lived in little huts and very likely had only spades to dig up 
their ground. But afterwards they had ploughs and oxen 
to draw them, and good farm-houses, with barns and store- 
houses, and cellars for wine and oil. They raised all the 
grains except maize, and planted vineyards, making wine 
from the grapes much as it is done now. Many sheep and 
goats were kept, and their wool and hair were woven into 
cloth. Goats' milk was much used. The gardens contained 
at first only a few common herbs and fruits, but later on the 
delicious fruits and gorgeous flowers of Asia were grown, 
and gardening became something of a fine art. In the later 
days of the empire farming almost disappeared in Italy, and 
there was much suffering when the grain of Africa ceased 
to come after the Vandal conquest. 



278 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



THE ROMAN EMPERORS AND NOTABLE EVENTS OF THEIR 

REIGNS. 

Augustus becomes emperor 31 b.c. 

Christ is born in Judea 4 " 

Defeat of Varus by the Germans 10 a.d. 

Tiberius 14 

Caligula 37 

Claudius 41 

Nero 54 

Great fire in Rome 64 

Persecution of the Christians 64 

Galba 68 

Otho 69 

Vitellius 69 

Vespasian 69 

Jerusalem taken and destroyed 70 

Titus 79 

Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum .... 79 

Domitian (last of the Twelve Caesars) 81 

Nerva 96 

Trajan 98 

Conquest of Dacia 98-106 

Great victories in Asia 115 

Hadrian 117 

Revolt of the Jews and their exile 131 

Antoninus Pius 138 

Marcus Aurelius (last of the " five good emperors") 161 

Great inroads of the Germans 162-175 

Commodus 180 

Pertinax (first of the ' ' Barrack Emperors, ' ' elected 

by the army) 192 

Didius Julianus (buys throne from Praetorian guards) 193 

Septimius Severus (disbands Praetorian guards) . . 193 

Caracalla 211 

All Freemen of the empire are made Roman citi- 
zens 212 

Macrinus 217 



ROME 



279 



Elagabalus 217 a.d 

Alexander Severus 222 

Maximin 235 

Gordian I. ; Gordian II 238 

Maximus and Balbinas (joint reign) 238 

Gordian III 238 

Philip 244 

Decius (is defeated and slain by the Goths) .... 249 

Gallus 251 

jEmilianus 253 

Valerian 254 

Gallienus (nineteen pretenders to the throne) . . 260 

Claudius II 268 

Dacia surrendered to the Goths 270 

Aurelian 270 

Revolt of Zenobia ; conquest of Palmyra .... 273 

Tacitus 275 

Probus 276 

Carus 282 

Carinus { „„„ 

Numerian J 

Diocletian 284 

[ (joint emperors of East and West) . 286 
Maximian ) 

Galerius ) , . . , , OA , 

\ (joint emperors) 305 

Constantius J 

Constantine the Great 306 

Christianity made the religion of the empire ... 313 
Constantine sole emperor (all of his rivals put 

down) . 323 

Byzantium made the capital of the empire ; re- 
named Constantinople 328 

Constantine II. -) 

Constantius II. I (joint emperors) 337 

Constans J 

Constantius II 353 

Julian (surnamed the Apostate for seeking to restore 

the heathen worship) 361 



280 ANCIENT HISTORY 

Jovian 363 

Valentinian I. ) ... . 

Valens } (joint emperors) 364 

Gratian ) .. . , x - c 

[ (iomt emperors) 375 

Valentinian II. i VJ F ' 

The Huns appear ; the Goths cross the Danube 

into the empire 376 

Valentinian II. . 383 

The Goths enlisted in the army 388 

Theodosius the Great (emperor of the East, 379), 

sole emperor 392 

Arcadius (emperor of the East ) oq,- 

Honorius (emperor of the West i 

Emperors of the West. 

Honorius 395 

Italy invaded by the Goths 400 

Stilicho defeats the Goths and has a triumph (the 

last seen at Rome) 404 

Stilicho is executed ; the Goths under Alaric take 

and plunder Rome 410 

Valentinian III 425 

The Vandals invade Africa ; take Carthage .... 439 

Attila and the Huns defeated at Chalons 451 

Maximus ; Avitus 455 

The Vandals take and sack Rome 455 

Majorian 457 

Libius Severus 461 

Arethemius 467 

Olybrius 472 

Glycerius 473 

Julius Nepos 474 

Romulus Augustulus (the last emperor) 475 

Odoacer becomes King of Italy 476 



PART II 

MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

SECTION I.— THE DARK AGES 

INTRODUCTION 

Civilization in Peril. — We are now about to deal with 
one of the most remarkable periods in the history <5f the 
world. For several thousand years civilization had been 
growing and spreading over the fertile region of the South, 
but now it was suddenly swept away as if by a terrible 
flood, and it seemed as if all the work of these thousands 
of busy years had to be done over again. 

A Great Harvest-Field. — You have read the story of 
the long growth of civilization, how it arose on the banks 
of the Euphrates and the Nile and spread to Greece and 
Rome. The Roman Empire was like a great harvest-field, 
in which the fruit of the labors of mankind during many 
centuries seemed ripe and ready to be reaped for the good of 
the human race. 

The South and the North. — Here let us stop and look 
around and see what was the real state of the world in 
ancient times. If we look on a map of that period we shall 
see that the civilized states were confined to the south of 
Europe and parts of southern Asia and northern Africa. 
Over all the rest of the world darkness spread. North of 

281 



282 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

the realm of civilized man was a vast region in which dwelt 
only barbarians and savages. Rome had tried in vain to 
conquer these people, for, while they were very ignorant, 
they were fierce and warlike, and they were destined in the 
end to conquer Rome. 

A Human Avalanche. — Most of you must have read of 
how great masses of snow will gather for years on the 
mountain-tops of Switzerland, and then pour down in 
frightful avalanches on the smiling country below. The 
wild tribes of the north were like an avalanche that hung 
over Rome, and the time was sure to come when they 
would fall in overwhelming force on the proud empire which 
had so long held them back. 

The Conquering Races. — Let us see who these people 
were. They belonged to two of the great races of man- 
kind, the Aryan and the Turanian. You have been told 
about these in our opening chapter. The Huns who did 
such terrible work in Europe under Attila were Turanians, 
and came from the vast cattle-raising plains of northern 
Asia. They were the most savage and frightful people the 
Romans had ever seen. The tribes of Europe were Aryans, 
and belonged to the same race as the Greeks and Romans 
themselves. 

The Aryans of Europe. — In the west of Europe were 
the Celts (Kelts). To these belonged the Gauls, who had 
taken and burned Rome in its early days. Later on they 
were conquered and brought under Roman rule. In the 
east were the Slavs, or Slavonians, who were too far away 
to have much to do with Rome. In the central region were 
the Teutons (Tu'tons), of whom there were several divisions, 
each with its own language. It is with these that we are 
here concerned. 



THE DARK AGES 283 

The Teutonic Tribes. — Of the Teuton' ic tribes we may 
name the Goths, including the Os'trogoths (Eastern Goths) 
and the Vis'igoths (Western Goths) ; the Van'dals, who 
won a kingdom in Northern Africa ; the Lom'bards, who 
conquered the north of Italy ; the Franks, who became 
masters of Gaul ; and the An'gles and Sax'ons, who took 
possession of the island of Britain. Farther north were 
the Norse'men or Northmen, who were to play a great part 
in later times. 

Rome and the Barbarians. — In the history of Rome you 
have read about the dealings between the Romans and the 
wild tribes. You will remember how Brennus with his 
Gauls conquered and burned Rome ; how Marius defeated 
and destroyed the hordes of Cimbri and Teutons ; how 
Caesar conquered the country of the Gauls ; and how Her- 
mann, the great Teutonic chief, cut to pieces a Roman army 
in the German woods. 

The "Wealth of Rome. — As time passed on, the Romans 
grew weak and the barbarians grew strong. Many of them 
served in the Roman armies and learned there the art of 
war. And they told in their native wilds the story of the 
riches of Rome, while the warriors clashed their swords 
against their shields and asked to be led to the plunder of 
those rich and splendid cities. 

The Huns, Goths, and Vandals. — Our later chapters told 
you how these wild tribesmen were led to the conquest of 
Rome ; how the savage Huns poured over Europe, burning 
and destroying ; how the Goths under Alaric and the Van- 
dals under Genseric took and plundered Rome ; and how 
other tribes sought their share of the spoil of the ruined 
empire. But the Goths and Vandals did not destroy the 
great city, as the frightful Huns might have done. They 



284 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

had listened to the missionaries and become Christians ; so, 
while they robbed Rome of its wealth, they did not sweep 
it from the earth. 

A Flood of Barbarism. — Was it not a dreadful thing to 
see barbarism pouring in a flood over the land of culture 
and progress ? Rome had done many bad things, but it was 
the centre of the civilized world, and when it fell it seemed 
as if all the work of the ages was lost and the gloom of 
ignorance and barbarity would again spread for many cen- 
turies over all the earth. 

The Dark Ages. — The period that followed has been 
called the "Dark Ages. 1 ' It was well named, for it was an 
age of dense ignorance, superstition, vice, and crime, in 
which all the arts and customs of civilization seemed to 
have vanished. If continued for several centuries, and the 
philosophers of that period, if there were any of them, might 
well have lost all hope for the future of mankind. 

Civilization not lost. — Such was the outlook, but things 
were not as bad as they appeared. Civilization was not lost, 
it was only checked. The arts of Greece and Rome existed 
still and would in time be revived. The way in which the 
Romans had governed their vast empire was admired by 
their conquerors, who tried to imitate it, and thus the art of 
government was preserved. The laws of Rome were not 
forgotten, and would in time give rise to the laws of Europe. 
Constantinople held much of the art and literature of 
Greece and Rome, and kept them for the later world. 
Better than all, Christianity was preserved and soon began 
to make its way among the victorious tribes. While the 
emperor of Rome had vanished, the bishop or pope of 
Rome remained, with power and influence all over the 
world. So the old civilization was not lost. It was sure 



THE DARK AGES 285 

to come back again, among fresh and sturdy peoples, who 
would raise it to a higher level than ever before. 

The Problem of Progress. — This is the problem we have 
now to deal with. We have traced ancient civilization from 
its origin to its fall. Now we must take up the story of 
the new peoples who were occupying the place of the old 
and growing from tribes into nations. The process was a 
slow but a sure one. We have to show how these nations 
grew and strengthened ; how they met and dealt with fresh 
barbarian invasions ; how the forces of barbarism gradually 
wore out and civilization spread far and wide ; how, in the 
end, the seed that was planted ages before on the banks of 
the Euphrates and the Nile grew into a mighty tree, whose 
branches overspread all Europe and most of the world 
besides. 



CHAPTER I 
THE INVASIONS OF THE TEUTONS 

The Progress of History. — In dealing with modern his- 
tory we cannot take up one great empire after another, each 
of them the lord of the civilized earth, as was the case in 
ancient times ; but we have to do with a large number of 
separate nations, each with a history of its own. At first, 
indeed, there were no settled nations, but a confused mix- 
ture of tribes, and lordships, and small kingdoms, which 
would surely grow into strong nations. So we cannot move 
in a straight line as hitherto, but must take up several lines 
in succession. This makes the work before us more difficult. 

The First Italian King-. — When Rome fell, and Odoa'cer, 
the Gothic chief, became King of Italy, all the Roman Em- 
pire was not at an end. The Eastern Empire remained, with 
Constantinople for its capital, and Odoacer reigned as viceroy 
of the emperor Zeno. But we cannot say that the barbarian 
king troubled himself much about the emperor, whose power 
was only the shadow of that of the old Roman sovereigns. 

Theodoric conquers Italy. — Odoacer did not reign very 
long. He was a chief of the Visigoths, whose kindred, the 
Ostrogoths, soon invaded Italy, under a great chief named 
Theod'oric. They came bag and baggage, the soldiers bring- 
ing their wives, children, and parents in a multitude of 
wagons, prepared to settle in the new land. Odoacer fought 
bravely for his throne, and it took four years to conquer him, 
but in the end Theodoric became king of all Italy. He 

286 



THE DARK AGES 287 

made Raven'na his capital in 493 ; but in 500 he set up his 
throne in the old city of Rome. 

The Reign of Theodoric. — Theodoric was a wise and 
noble monarch. He reigned thirty-three years (493-526) 
and proved so just and able that he was called Theodoric 
the Great. He gave one-third of the land to his soldiers, but 
the old inhabitants were not oppressed, and his wise reign 
brought peace and prosperity to all the people. The laws 
which he made were so well kept that it came to be said, 
"A purse of gold might be safely left in the fields." Many 
centuries passed before Italy knew another king like Theod- 
oric the barbarian. 

The Emperor Justinian. — After Theodoric died, Italy 
became a scene of war, bloodshed, and ruin. The next year 
(527) a famous king, Justin'ian, came to the throne in Con- 
stantinople, and reigned with much glory and honor for 
thirty-eight years. He it was who made the great code of 
Roman laws of which we have spoken. He also tried hard to 
drive the Goths out of Italy and win back the Western Empire. 

The Victories of Belisarius. — Justinian had two great 
soldiers to lead his armies, Belisa'rius and Nar'ses. Beli- 
sarius led an army to Africa and drove the Vandals out of 
Carthage and the adjoining country. Then he conquered 
Sicily and entered Italy, where he defeated the Goths and 
drove them away. 

Totila and Narses. — But the Goths were soon back again 
under their king, Tot'ila, who took Rome, and might have 
destroyed it but for Narses, another of Justinian's generals. 
Narses defeated the Goths with great slaughter, and conquered 
Italy for the emperor, who set him to rule it under the title 
of Exarch of Italy. Thus for a time the Eastern and West- 
ern empires were reunited. 



288 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

The Coming- of the Lombards. — Three years after Jus- 
tinian died another Teutonic horde came from Germany, 
called the Lorn 'bards, from the Latin word for long beards, 
or perhaps for long battle-axes. They swept down into Italy, 
where they committed great ravages and treated the people 
cruelly. Some of the Italians fled from them to the islands at 
the head of the Adriat'ic Sea, and here in time grew up the 
famous commercial city of Ven'ice. 

The Lombard Kingdom. — The Lombards settled down 
in the broad district called Lombardy, making Pa'via their 
capital (568). But they did not annex the whole of Italy, 
for Rome, Ravenna, Venice, and much of the central and 
southern country was still held by the exarchs, who ruled 
for the emperor of the East. For more than two hundred 
years Italy was divided between these two powers. Then 
in 774 came Charlemagne and took the last Lombard king 
prisoner and brought the Lombard rule to an end. 

The Advent of the Tribes. — Now let us look at the 
west and see what was taking place there. When the 
Goths under Alaric were in Italy and Rome was in its death 
struggle all the Roman soldiers were withdrawn from Britain 
and most of them from Gaul for the defence of Italy. Soon 
the wild tribes of Scotland were over the Roman wall and 
pillaging the cities of the south, whose people had forgotten 
how to fight. Over the Rhine came hordes known as 
Vandals, Sue'vi, Burgun'dians, and by other names, to the 
conquest of Gaul and Spain. The Burgundians settled in 
eastern Gaul, in the district still known as Bur'gundy. The 
Vandals pushed on into Spain, and settled the province now 
known as Andalu'sia. But they soon crossed into Africa 
and formed a Vandal kingdom there. After the death of 
Alaric the Goths left Italy for Gaul and Spain, and about 



THE DARK AGES 289 

the year 414 they founded in Spain what was long known 
as the Kingdom of the Visigoths. We shall read more 
about them later on. 

Clovis and the Pranks. — The most famous of these 
invading peoples were the Franks, who gave the name of 
France to the ancient country of Gaul. Frank means free- 
man, and the Franks were made up of several tribes who 
lived near the lower Rhine, and who gave Rome a good deal 
of trouble two hundred years before its fall. In the year 
486, when Rome had fallen and Odoacer was King of Italy, 
a bold and daring chief of the Franks named Clo'vis led an 
army of his fellow-tribesmen into Gaul. Here he met the 
last of the Roman governors at a place named Soissons and 
defeated him. Then he began to win victories in all parts 
of Gaul. 

The Vase of Soissons. — There is an anecdote about 
Clovis which shows what kind of a man he was. After the 
battle of Soissons, Clovis asked his followers to give him a 
beautiful vase as his part of the spoil. One of his men 
objected to this, as it was the rule to divide the booty by lot, 
and to end the dispute he broke the vase with his battle- 
axe. Clovis was very angry, but >he kept quiet and bided 
his time. Some time after, when the troops were under 
review, he approached this man, blamed him severely for not 
keeping his armor bright, and cleft his head with a battle- 
axe, crying out, "Thus you did to the vase of Soissons !" 

Clovis becomes a Christian. — They were savages who 
did things like that, but Clovis was a bold savage and an 
able one. The Franks were heathens, but Clovis married a 
Christian woman named Clotil'da, and soon became a Chris- 
tian himself. We are told that when he was fighting with a 
German tribe called the Alemanmi he was in great danger 

19 



290 



MEDLEVAL HISTORY 



of defeat. He made a vow that, if he won the victory, he 
would become a Christian. Soon the tide of battle turned, 
the king of the Alemanni was killed and his army defeated. 
Clovis did not forget his vow, but was baptized in the 




The Vase of Soissons. 



Cathedral at Rheims. After that time it was the custom to 
crown and consecrate the kings of France, while France re- 
mained a kingdom, in that ancient cathedral. 

The Descendants of Clovis. — Before Clovis died he was 
master of nearly the whole of Gaul. He fixed his capital at 
Lute'tia, a mud village on the river Seine. This has since 
been known as Paris, and has always remained the capital of 
France. The descendants of Clovis were called Merovin'gians, 



THE DARK AGES 291 

after Merovae'us, one of their ancestors. They held the throne 
for more than two hundred and fifty years, but they were 
cruel and vicious and committed many dreadful crimes in their 
constant quarrels, for the country was divided up between 
them. There were some bold kings among them, but the 
most of them were so weak and worthless that the people 
called them " Do-nothings," and in time all the power came 
to be held by a great officer called the Mayor of the Palace. 

Charles Martel and Pepin. — One of these mayors, 
named Charles Martel', became famous for a great victory he 
won over the Saracens. You will read about this victory 
later on. His son, Pep'in, was a brave soldier, and fought 
in Italy against the Lombards for the Pope, who sent him 
word that he had the power of a king and ought to have 
the name. So Pepin took Chil'peric, the last of the do- 
nothing kings, cut off the long yellow hair on which he 
prided himself, and shut him up in a convent. Then, in the 
year 752, Pepin was crowned King of France. His son was 
the famous Charlemagne, (char'le-mane) or Charles the Great, 
from whom this line of kings was called the Carlovin'gian. 

The New Kingdoms. — You have seen how the Roman 
Empire went to pieces in the west and the barbarians founded 
new kingdoms in Italy, France, Spain, and Africa. The same 
took place in the island of Britain, as we shall now see. 

The Romans in Britain. — In modern times Britain has 
been very famous, it being known as England in the south 
and Scotland in the north, but when Julius Caesar landed 
there it was peopled by rude and barbarous tribes. When 
Claudius was emperor, about the year 50 a.d., the southern 
part of the island was conquered by the Romans, who after- 
wards built walls across it to keep out the wild northern 
tribes of Picts and Scots. 



292 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

The Britons are civilized. — The Romans stayed in Britain 
nearly four, hundred years. They constructed paved roads 
and built walled towns and baths and theatres, and many 
of the wild natives became civilized Christians, whose young 
men studied Latin and prided themselves on the Roman 
manners and customs. The Romans did the fighting, and 
the British became peaceful and feeble. 

The Angles and Saxons. — This was all very well while 
the Romans were there. But when they left the island and 
the savage Picts swarmed over the Roman wall and attacked 
their towns the poor Britons were helpless to defend them- 
selves. Off the coast were some Saxon sea-rovers, whose 
chiefs were named Hengist and Horsa. The unfortunate 
people asked their aid against the terrible Picts, which they 
were very ready to give, but when they had driven back the 
Picts they seized the land for themselves. Many other boat- 
loads came, mostly Angles (English) and Saxons. These 
were fierce heathens, who killed all that opposed them, and 
soon held all the south of the island except the mountain 
region of Wales, to which the Britons fled. Various small 
kingdoms were formed on English soil, and for long years 
fighting went on between them, but in the year 827 King 
Egbert combined them all into one, which he called Eng- 
land. He was a friend of Charlemagne, who then ruled in 
France. Long before that the Anglo-Saxon people of Eng- 
land had become Christians. 

The Later Tribes. — It was in this way that the tribes of 
the north became the masters of the old Roman Empire. 
There were others of them still to come from their forest 
wilds and seize their share of the land, of which the chief 
were the Danes and Norsemen, the terrible sea-rovers of the 
far north. The tale of their doings will be told later. 



CHAPTER II 

THE PERSIAN AND EASTERN EMPIRES 

Now let us for a time go back to the east and see what 
was going on there. The history of Asia and eastern 




Homage of the Parthians to Marcus Aurelius. 

Europe at this period was not very important and need not 
keep us very long, but we must give it some attention. 

The Valor of the Parthians. — In the history of Rome 
some mention was made of the Parthians. These were a 

293 



294 MEDIAEVAL HISTORY 

Turanian people of Asia, who gained their freedom when 
the empire of Alexander began to break up, and in time 
became masters of a great part of southern Asia. For five 
centuries they retained their power, and Rome tried in vain 
to conquer them. You have read how they defeated Crassus 
and his army in 52 b.c. Many of them belonged to the 
wandering shepherd tribes, and they were fine horsemen 
and famous for their mounted archers, who, even when re- 
treating at full speed, could shoot their arrows backward 
with deadly effect. 

The New Persian Empire. — You will remember the 
Persians, who were at one time so mighty and powerful, 
and at length were conquered by Alexander the Great. 
Afterwards they became subjects of the Parthians. But in 
226 a.d. they broke out in rebellion and won back their 
liberty, and a new Persian kingdom was established, which 
was called the Sassan'ian. It continued to exist for more 
than four centuries, taking the place of the Parthian king- 
dom, which it had overthrown. The Persians held their own 
bravely against the Roman armies, which they often de- 
feated. In 260 a.d. the Persian king Sapor defeated Vale- 
rian, the Roman emperor, and took him prisoner. It is 
said he used his great captive as a footstool, putting his foot 
on him when he mounted his horse. Think of an emperor 
of Rome being treated in this shameful way. 

Two Famous Persian Kings. — The greatest of the new 
Persian kings was Chos'roes or Khos'ru I., who began to 
reign in 531. He was famous as a statesman and warrior, 
and defeated the armies of Justinian so often that the em- 
peror was forced to bribe him with thirty thousand pieces 
of gold. His grandson, Chosroes II., was also an able war- 
rior, who conquered all Syria, Egypt, and Asia Minor from 



THE DARK AGES 295 

the Eastern Empire, and led his armies to the very gates of 
Constantinople. He took what was called the True Cross 
from the church at Jerusalem and carried it to Persia. 

Heraclius and Chosroes. — You may see that the Eastern 
Empire of Rome was in serious danger of being overthrown 
as the Western Empire had been. But by good fortune there 
came to the throne an able emperor, named Heracli'us, who 




Remains of the Arch of Chosroes at Ctesiphon, 

reigned from 610 to 641. You have been told how the 
Romans forced Hannibal to leave Italy, by carrying the war 
into Africa. Heraclius took the same plan. He led a 
small body of picked men into Persia, where he did so 
much damage that Chosroes had to hasten back to save his 
country. While in Persia Heraclius recovered the True 
Cross, which he took back to Jerusalem. 

The Battle of Nineveh. — In the year 627 the armies of 
Heraclius and Chosroes met on the spot where the great 



296 MEDLEVAL HISTORY 

Assyrian city of Nineveh had once stood, and fought a ter- 
rible battle around its ruins. When it ended the Persian 
army was not only defeated, but almost cut to pieces. 
Chosroes saw the great empire he had built up brought to 
ruin in a day, and so great was his grief that in a few days 
he died, though some say that he was assassinated. 

The Coming- of the Arabians. — In a few years more 
the new Persian Empire came to an end in a way that we 
shall tell in our next chapter. We can only say here that 
the Arabians, the followers of the prophet Mohammed, came 
from their desert and conquered Syria and Persia. Like 
Chosroes, they overran Asia Minor and led their armies to 
the gates of Constantinople. So Heraclius, who had driven 
the Persians from these regions, saw them lost again to the 
Arabians. He took the True Cross, which he had brought 
back to Jerusalem, to Constantinople, and bade a sad fare- 
well to Syria. 

The Greek Empire. — From that time on the Eastern 
Empire was not of much importance. It had lost all its 
great possessions in Asia and Africa, and there was nothing 
Roman left in it. So after this it may best be called the 
Greek Empire, for its people were chiefly Greeks, and Con- 
stantinople became like a Greek city in its manners and cus- 
toms. There is nothing more worth saying about it till the 
time of the Crusades. 

The Barbarian Outflow. — Before we leave this part of 
our subject it is well to speak briefly about the doings of the 
wild tribes of the north and east. You have read about 
the Teutonic tribes of Europe, — how they poured down like 
an overwhelming flood and took possession of the Roman 
Empire of the West. During the same period the tribes of 
Russia and Asia were as fierce and active, and the empire 



THE DARK AGES 297 

of the East had to fight hard for its life. It seems as if, 
at this period, the barbarism in the north was like a great 
lake, which overflowed its banks and poured out its devas- 
tating waters over the whole realm of civilization in the 
south. When the torrent ended civilization had nearly- 
disappeared. 

Belisarius and the Barbarians. — You may call to mind 
how the great general Belisarius defeated the Goths in Italy. 
When he was an old man this famous general had to defend 
Constantinople against a horde of barbarians from the north. 
It was made up of the tribes known as Slavonians and Bul- 
garians, from Russia and Asia, who did terrible damage to 
the empire until they were defeated by the aged hero. 

The Terrible Magyars. — Various other barbarous tribes 
gave trouble to the emperors at Constantinople, but the 
most formidable invasion of Europe was that of the Magyars 
(Mod'yors), or Hungarians, who were of the same race as 
the Huns, the terrible followers of Attila. Coming in 889, 
they defeated the Bulgarians and put Constantinople in peril. 
Then they swept across Germany to the Rhine, coming 
again and again, and committing such cruel ravages that the 
people said they were cannibals and drank the blood of 
their enemies. Wherever they went they killed all they met. 
In the end they were defeated by the German emperors and 
settled down quietly in Hungary, which they made their 
home. After that they became Christians, and were of great 
service to Europe in keeping back the Asiatic tribes that fol- 
lowed in their track. 

The Turks and the Mongols. — We may here speak, in 
passing, of two other hordes of Asiatic invaders, the most 
important of them all. The first of these were the Turks, 
who came from the region of the Altai Mountains, in Central 



298 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

Asia, and overran all the south of Asia and in time con- 
quered Constantinople and the Greek Empire. The second 
were the Mongols, who came from the country now known 
as Chinese Tartary and committed the most frightful ravages 
in Asia and Russia. These people had long dwelt on the 
vast steppes or elevated and partly barren regions of the 
centre and north of Asia, wandering from pasture to pasture 
with their herds of cattle, horses, sheep, and camels, and 
living the peaceful life of shepherds. But when they in- 
vaded the south with their hordes of daring and furious 
horsemen, they slaughtered millions of the people and de- 
stroyed hundreds of cities, making deserts of fertile and 
populous realms. We merely speak of them here ; the story 
of their migrations and wars belongs to a later time. 



CHAPTER III 



THE EMPIRE OF THE SARACENS 



The Peninsula of Arabia. — In the southwestern corner 
of Asia lies a great peninsula, bounded by the Red Sea and 
the Persian Gulf, and very largely made up of a desert of 
sand, in the midst of which are large and fertile oases. 
During all the history of ancient times we hear little of this 
peninsula, though it lay near the civilized lands of Egypt and 
Babylonia. Its people were largely wandering shepherds, 
who did not make history. 
But in the seventh century 
of the Christian era it rose 
suddenly from its obscurity, 
and the people of the sur- 
rounding nations beheld 
with surprise and dismay a 
horde of fanatical warriors 
pouring out of this realm of 
sand and setting out to the 
conquest of the world. It 
was as when a devouring 
fire breaks out in a house 
that was thought safe from 
all danger. 

Mohammed and his Mission. — About the year 570 a 
man named Moham'med was born in Mecca, the holy city 
of Arabia. Like most of his people he could not read or 
write. And he spent many years as a wandering merchant. 

299 




'7/ 

Mohammed, the Arab Prophet. 



300 



MEDIEVAL HISTORY 



But he was very religious and studied and thought deeply, 
and after he was forty years of age he became a great 
religious teacher. He said that the Jewish and Christian 
religions both came from God, but that the angel Gabriel had 
appeared to him and taught him a new and more perfect 
religion, which he was commanded to teach to mankind. 
His sayings were written down from time to time, and 
formed a book named the Ko'ran, which has ever since been 
the holy book of the Mohammedans. 

Mohammed's Enemies. — The idol-worshipping Arabians 
were not very ready to take up the doctrines of the new 
prophet. It took him years to get together a few disciples. 




Medina. 



In the year 622 his enemies forced him to flee from Mecca, 
and he made his way to Medi'na, where he found a number 
of believers. 

Conversion by the Sword. — Mohammed now made up 
his mind that if men could not be converted by preaching 
they might be by fighting. He said, " The sword is the key 



THE DARK AGES 301 

of heaven and hell, 1 ' and he set out to prove it. He began 
to attack and plunder caravans. Then, as his disciples grew 
numerous, the desert tribes were attacked and subdued. His 
wild followers were told that all who fell in battle would go 
straight to the joys of Paradise, and they fought without fear 
of death. In ten years he made himself master of all the 
tribes and spread his new religion through all Arabia. Then, 
in 632, he died just as he was preparing to go out and con- 
vert the surrounding countries by the power of the sword. 
He was one of the great men who make history. 

The Caliphs. — " There is but one God, and Mohammed 
is his prophet,' 1 was now the war-cry of the Arabians. 
Mohammed was succeeded by rulers called Ca'liphs, the 
first of whom was Abu-bekr, his father-in-law. The prophet 
was not long dead when the believers in his new faith 
emerged, cimeter in hand, from their desert land and fell in 
fury on the neighboring countries, to conquer and convert. 

Omar enters Jerusalem. — Syria and Mesopotamia were 
quickly overrun by the desert warriors, who were victorious 
everywhere. Into Jerusalem rode Omar, the second caliph, 
on a red-haired camel, carrying a bag of rice and one of 
dates, and a leather bottle of water. No thought of luxury 
had yet entered the minds of these stern and hardy sons of 
the Arabian sands. 

Persia is conquered. — Never was a new religion ex- 
tended more rapidly or a new and vast empire built up 
more quickly. Persia was the next country conquered, and 
then the Arabs crossed the mountain wall of the north and 
taught their new religion to the Turks. These fierce tribes 
were to become its greatest upholders in future time. 

The Library of Alexandria. — The desert warriors next 
invaded and conquered Egypt. When Alexandria was taken, 



302 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

Amrou, the Arabian leader in this war, wrote to the caliph, 
Omar, about the great library of that city, with its hundreds 
of thousands of books, and asked what he should do with 
them. Omar, to whom there was only one book worth 
having, the Koran, wrote back : "If these books agree with 
the Koran, they are useless ; if they do not agree with it, 
they are false and dangerous ; in either case they ought to 
be destroyed." So these priceless manuscripts were sent 
to the four thousand baths of the city, whose flames they 
fed for six months. Of the truth of this story we are not 
quite sure, for some writers say that this library was de- 
stroyed before that time. 

Egypt and Africa. — From Egypt the conquering Arabians 
— or Sar'acens, as they were called — marched steadily west- 
ward through northern Africa. Here they had hard fight- 
ing to do, but step by step they went on, conquering cities 
and countries, till they had borne the banner of the Cres- 
cent to the Straits of Gibraltar. Their leader now spurred 
his horse into the waters of the Atlantic, saying that his zeal 
had not failed, but that there was no more land for his 
courage to subdue. 

Constantinople and the Greek Fire. — It took the Sara- 
cens many years to conquer northern Africa, for they had 
the fierce Moors of the desert to fight, and also the sturdy 
Gothic warriors, who crossed from Italy and. Spain to fight 
for Africa. The Greek Empire was more fortunate. For 
seven years a strong army of Saracens besieged Constanti- 
nople, but its defenders poured on them flaming torrents of 
the terrible Greek fire, and they found themselves baffled. 
This fire was made of naphtha, sulphur, and pitch, which 
was. blown flaming through hollow tubes, or hurled in red- 
hot iron balls. 



THE DARK AGES 



303 



The Saracen Repulse. — Forty years later the Saracens 
came back, with a powerful force, and for thirteen months 
attacked the strong walls of Constantinople. But the em- 
peror, Leo III., fought them bravely, and in the end an army 
of Bulgarians defeated them with immense slaughter. 

Building- a Great Empire. — While this was going on, the 
Saracens were extending their empire elsewhere. From 
Persia their warriors rode far eastward, never halting till 
they reached the banks of the Indus River in India. In the 




The Rock of Gibraltar. 



west an army of them crossed from Africa into Spain over 
the narrow Straits of Gibraltar. It was the first step they 
had taken into Europe, and soon they were fighting fiercely 
in that continent. 

The Conquest of Spain. — Spain at that time, as you 
have been told, was the seat of a kingdom of the Visigoths, 
who had come there three centuries before after the con- 
quest of Rome. Roderick, the last king of this people, met 
the Saracens at Xeres (Ze'res), but was defeated and killed, 



304 



MEDLEVAL HISTORY 



and the fierce desert warriors quickly made themselves the 
lords and masters of Spain. All that was left to the Goths 
was a small mountain district in the northwest, in which they 
held their own and defied their enemies. 

The Battle of Tours. — The warriors of the Crescent 
banner were not satisfied with Spain. They wanted to 
conquer all southern Europe and force the people to accept 
the religion of Mohammed and the Koran. Crossing the 
Pyrenees Mountains into France, they filled all Christendom 
with alarm. In this great peril, Charles, the Mayor of the 
Palace at Paris, met them with a strong army of Franks, and 
for seven days a desperate battle was fought on the plain of 
Tours. Never had the Saracens met with such valiant war- 
riors. Terrible and long con- 
tinued was the conflict, but 
on the seventh day their 
leader fell in the thick of the 
fight and they were driven 
back with frightful slaughter. 
So great was their loss that 
they never again attempted 
to conquer France. 

Charles Martel's Famous 
Victory. — All Europe was 
filled with joy when it heard 
of this famous victory, for 
many had feared that the 
desert fighters were invinci- 
ble. Charles was called Martel, or the Hammer, in honor of 
the sturdy blow he had given the infidel hordes. The battle 
of Tours was fought in 732, exactly one hundred years after 
Mohammed died. In that century the Saracen Empire had 




Charles Martel. 



THE DARK AGES 305 

spread from India to the Atlantic. No empire before had ever 
gained so great a width. 

The Capitals of the Caliphs. — For a time one caliph 
governed this mighty empire, fixing his capital at Damas'cus, 
in Syria, and making his power felt from India to Spain. 
But there came disputes and wars and secessions, and 
after 755 there were two caliphs, one in Spain and one in 
Bag' dad, a new city built on the Tigris River, not far from 
the site of the famous old Babylon. Later on there was 
another caliph in the city of Cairo (Ki'ro), in Egypt. 

Centuries of Dominion. — The Arabs had come to Spain 
to stay. Their kingdom lasted for seven hundred years. 
But the Moors of Africa in time took the place of the pure 
Arabs, and their kingdom became known as the Moorish. 
In Bagdad the empire of the Saracens held its own for five 
hundred years, and then the Turks and Mongols of the north 
came down and made themselves its master. 

Haroun-al-Raschid. — Of the caliphs of Bagdad the most 
famous was Haroun'-al-Rasch'id, who came to the throne 
in 786, in the days of Charlemagne, and in whose reign the 
Saracen realm reached its height of glory. Every boy who 
has read that wonderful collection of fairy-tales called the 
"Arabian Nights" must know something about this great 
prince, for he is the hero of many of its stories. 

THE SARACEN CIVILIZATION. 

A Rapid Growth of Civilization. — The history of the 
Saracen conquest is one of great interest and importance, 
but that of the Saracen civilization is quite as important. 
When the Arabs came from their desert they were a dif- 
ferent people from the ignorant barbarians of the north. 
Poetry had long been cultivated among them, and in their 

20 



306 



MEDIAEVAL HISTORY 



history we hear of no "Dark Age, 1 ' like that of the Teuton 
conquerors of Europe. As soon as their century of con- 
quest was over they settled down to the cultivation of liter- 
ature, art, and science, and they developed a splendid and 
flourishing civilization while all around them, except in 
Constantinople and Greece, dense ignorance and the rudest 
manners prevailed. 

The Moorish Architecture. — All through the land of the 
Moors and the Saracens beautiful buildings arose, of a new 




Court of Lioxs of the Alhambra. 



style of architecture, wonderfully light and graceful. In 
Spain there is nothing more charming than the Mosque of 
Cor'dova and the Alham'bra Palace, the work of Moorish 
builders. The streets of their cities were well paved and 
lighted, while the other cities of Europe were beds of filth, 
darkness, and vice. Their houses Avere carpeted and beau- 
tifully furnished, and warmed in the winter by furnaces, and 



THE DARK AGES 307 

the Europeans who visited Spain thought themselves almost 
in fairy-land. 

The Saracen Libraries. — Cairo and Bagdad were as 
splendid as Cor'dova and Grana'da. The magnificent build- 
ings of Bagdad have long since vanished, but the u Arabian 
Nights' " stories take us back into the midst of its grandeur. 
It was the home of poets and scholars, as were all the great 
Saracen cities. We are told that the library at Cairo held 
one hundred thousand volumes, and that at Cordova six hun- 
dred thousand volumes, and that a physician who was asked 
by the sultan to go to Bokha'ra declined, saying that it would 
take four hundred camels to carry his books. This was a 
different state of affairs from the days when the Caliph Omar 
ordered the Alexandrian library to be burned as useless or 
dangerous. 

An Empire of Schools. — What a treasure this great 
library would have been to the Arabian scholars of later 
days, for they became ardent students of Greek literature. 
They especially studied the writings of Aristotle, and became 
active in philosophy and science. While there was scarcely 
a school in Christian Europe, their country was full of 
schools, and there were thriving colleges in a dozen cities, 
to which earnest scholars came from all parts of the Mo- 
hammedan world. 

Progress in Science. — It is wonderful what progress 
these Saracens made in science, in an age when science was 
almost unknown elsewhere. They were the fathers of 
chemistry, and discovered alcohol and sulphuric acid and 
many other chemical substances. They were deep students 
also in astronomy and physics and mathematics, and our 
method of counting we owe to them. They brought it from 
India. They knew the laws of falling bodies, of specific 



308 



MEDIEVAL HISTORY 



gravity, of the mechanical powers, and of other sciences of 
which their neighbors in Europe did not dream. 

Merchants and. Manufacturers. — The Saracens also be- 
came active merchants and manufacturers. They worked 




A Street in Seville and the Giralda. 



the old silver-mines of Spain and took great treasure from 
them. There were nowhere their equals in weaving and 
dyeing, in the manufacture of silk, cotton, leather, and silver- 
ware, and everything needed for comfort and luxury. They 



THE DARK AGES . 309 

were also the great merchants of their time. Their caravans 
went far into the north, the east, and the west, carrying rich 
goods to exchange for the products of other lands. Their 
ships were everywhere on the waters of the Mediterranean 
and southern Asia, and their commercial cities became great 
centres of wealth and industry. 

A Striking- Contrast. — Such was the civilization which 
the Saracens built up in a few centuries after leaving their 
wild life in the desert. It was a rich and splendid one, and 
its glory was in strange contrast with the gloom of Europe, 
for at that time all Europe except Saracen Spain was plunged 
in the depths of ignorance, superstition, and vice, which has 
been well named the Dark Ages. While it gave little that 
was new to the world, it did much to save from ruin the 
treasures of the civilization of the past and the philosophy 
and science of ancient Greece. 



CHAPTER IV 
THE EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE 

The Empire in the Eighth Century. — When the eighth 
century neared its end, the continent of Europe was not at 
all like what we find it to-day. In place of the present 
kingdoms and empires, there was nothing fixed and stable. 
In the east was the little that was left of the old Roman 
Empire, a weak and sickly sort of government. Italy was 
held by the Lombards in the north, while the emperors at 
Constantinople still ruled over the south. Spain had been 
conquered from the Goths and was part of the empire of 
the Saracens. As for France, it had not yet become a dis- 
tinct kingdom, for its rulers were Germans, and there was 
little separation between France and Germany. But near 
the middle of the century there was born a man who was 
to make a remarkable change in European affairs. 

Three Great Men. — Three great men came in succession, 
Charles Martel, the Mayor of the Palace, who won the great 
victory at Tours ; his son, Pepin the Short, who took the 
crown from the feeble King of the Franks, and his grandson 
Charles, who has since been known as Charlemagne, or 
Charles the Great, and who was one of the most famous 
monarchs of history. 

Charles the Great. — Charles was born in 742, and be- 
came king when his father died in 768. His brother Car- 
loman ruled with him for a time, but he soon died and left 
Charles as sole king. This great monarch reigned for nearly 
half a century, and his reign was so full of wars and con- 

310 



THE DARK AGES 



311 




Charlemagne. 

(From a sixteenth century 

engraving.) 



quests that at his death he ruled over a great part of western 
Europe. He made no less than fifty-two military campaigns, 
nearly all of them successful, and he proved himself as great 
a statesman as he was a soldier. 

Charlemagne a Teuton. — We 
cannot call Charlemagne a French- 
man, for in his time the Frenchman 
of to-day did not exist, and his king- 
dom was made up of parts of what 
we now call France and Germany. 
He was a Teuton in speech and char- 
acter, and much of his life was spent 
in spreading his empire over the 
Teutonic soil. 

The Conquest of Saxony. — The most important of the 
wars of Charlemagne were those with the uncivilized tribes 
and nations of the north. These people were still pressing 
on the south, and those who had come first had to fight with 
those who came later. Most of the wars of Charlemagne 
were with the Saxons, who were still pagans, and were very 
brave and warlike. For more than thirty years he fought 
with them. He won many victories over these people, but 
as soon as his back was turned they were in arms again, 
and he was kept busy defeating them. At one time, furious 
at their obstinacy, he caused four thousand five hundred of 
his prisoners to be massacred. That was a very cruel act, 
and it could not have done him any good. But at last the 
Saxons gave up, and he had them all baptized as Christians, 
and added their country to his empire. 

Hungary conquered. — Charlemagne also had wars with 
the Bavarians, and their allies the Avars, who lived in what 
is now called Hungary. He conquered them and annexed 



312 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

their countries. By these victories he brought all Germany 
under his power, and put an end to the invasions of the 
tribes, which had been going on so long. 

War with the Saracens. — Charlemagne also led an army 
into Spain, where he fought with the Saracens and captured 
the countries of Ar'agon and Navarre'. But on his return 
the rear of his army was attacked by the savage mountain 
tribes Avhen in the narrow pass of Roncesval'les and cut to 
pieces. At its head was the renowned Roland, a famous 
hero of the poets, who told many wonderful stories about 
him and his exploits. 

Pepin and the Papal States. — The great king had wars 
in Italy as well as in Germany and Spain. These were with 
the Lombards, who had long held the north of that country. 
His father, Pepin, had fought with them and taken from them 
some of their provinces, which he gave to the Pope. Before 
that the popes ruled over no land, their power being spiritual 
only. But from that time on they were monarchs as well as 
bishops, and the land which Pepin gave them was the begin- 
ning of the papal states, which they governed for more than 
a thousand years. 

End of the Lombard Kingdom. — In Charlemagne's time 
the Lombards began to trouble the Pope again, and he led 
an army against them and completely defeated them. He 
took their king Deside'rius, shut him up in a monastery, 
and put on his own head the iron crown of the Lombards. 
Then he visited Rome, where the Pope received him with 
great favor, and they became strong friends. The provinces 
which Pepin had given to the Pope were confirmed to him 
by Charlemagne. 

Ambition of the German Chiefs. — We have still to tell 
of the most famous event in the history of the great king of 



THE DARK AGES 313 

the Franks. When the German tribes began to invade the 
south their leaders were only chiefs, chosen by their people 
and without much power. But they had a great admiration 
for the grandeur and dignity of the Roman emperors, and 
when they formed new kingdoms they tried to lay them out 
on the Roman plan. This is what Clovis sought to do, but 
he had bold and independent men to deal with, as you may 
know from the story of the vase of Soissons. Charlemagne 
was the first who succeeded. 

The Dominion of Charlemagne. — Let us see what this 
great conqueror had done. When Pepin died he was not 
ruler over the whole of Gaul. But by the year 800 Charle- 
magne had won a great dominion, which covered part of 
Spain and all of Gaul and Germany to the Elbe River in the 
northeast and the Theiss River, of Hungary, in the southeast. 
It included also half of Italy and several of the islands of the 
Mediterranean Sea. Thus he ruled over a country as large 
as the old Western Empire of Rome. 

Charlemagne crowned by the Pope. — In the year 800 
Charlemagne went to Italy in splendid state. The Pope, 
who looked on him as the great champion of Christendom, 
received him with the utmost favor. On Christmas Day 
Charlemagne, with his nobles and courtiers, went to attend 
divine service at the church of St. Peter's, in Rome, and 
knelt on the altar steps in devout prayer. While he knelt 
there, the Pope, Leo III., approached and placed a crown of 
gold on his head, saluting him as Charles Augustus, the 
Emperor of the Romans, and the successor of Caesar and 
Constantine. 

Emperors of Bast and "West. — This was the greatest 
honor any monarch could have had in that day. Charlemagne 
declared that it was a great surprise to him, but very likely 



314 



MEDIEVAL HISTORY 



he knew what the Pope was going to do. For three hun- 
dred and twenty-four years there had been no emperors 
except those at Constantinople, but after that there were for 
a long time two emperors, one in the east and one in the 




Charlemagne in his Imperial Costume. 



west. Charlemagne reigned as emperor only fourteen years, 
for he died in 814, at his capital city of Aix-la-Chapelle 
(Aix-la-sha-peF) ; but the title of emperor was kept up in 
Germany for many centuries afterwards. 

Charlemagne as a Statesman. — We must say something 
more about this famous monarch. All his time was not 



THE DARK AGES 315 

spent in fighting. In times of peace he was as busy as in 
times of war, looking after the affairs of his empire, and 
doing all he could to make his realm great and strong and 
his people well-to-do and happy. 

The Emperor's Love of Learning. — You must bear in 
mind that Europe at that time was still in the "Dark Ages. 11 
Superstition, ignorance, and rude and brutal manners pre- 
vailed almost everywhere. There was hardly any learning 
outside the Church. The emperor himself did not know 
how to write, though he tried to learn this art in his old age. 
But he was fond of learning, was a good Latin scholar and 
knew something of Greek, and kept many learned men about 
him, with whom he talked on literary and other subjects. 
He founded schools and studied himself the chief branches 
of learning that were then taught. 

How Charlemagne lived. — Charlemagne lived in state 
at his splendid palace at Aix-la-Chapelle, which was fur- 
nished and adorned with all the magnificence then possible. 
But he was plain and simple in dress and habits, was never 
a glutton at the table, and hated drunkenness. When at 
dinner he often had books of history and other works read 
to him, and he had copies made of the ancient Roman 
writings and of the old ballads of the German people. He 
also founded colleges and academies in various cities, but 
they did little good, for the great mass of the people con- 
tinued in profound ignorance. 

Famous Contemporary Monarchs. — While Charlemagne 
reigned England was united under a single monarch ; Eg- 
bert, the first king of all England, being crowned in 800. 
He spent some years at Charlemagne^ court in his youth. 
At the same time the Saracen Empire gained its most famous 
monarch in Haroun-al-Raschid, who exchanged letters and 



3 1 6 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

presents with Charlemagne. Among the gifts he sent him 
were an ape, an elephant, and a clock which struck the 
hours, — a wonderful thing at that period. 

Division of the Empire. — The vast dominion which 
Charlemagne had won with the sword did not keep together 
long after his death. His son Louis, who succeeded him, 
was not the man for such a task. He was called Louis the 
Gentle, and was better suited to be a churchman than a king. 
He divided his power with his sons, who were quickly at war 
with one another, and repaid their father by shutting him up 
for years in a convent. Louis died in 840, and three years 
later the empire of Charlemagne was broken up by the 
treaty of Verdun', between his three surviving sons. Charles 
took France for his portion ; Louis took Germany ; Lothaire 
took Italy and Burgundy and with them the title of emperor. 
Thus in less than thirty years after Charlemagne died his 
mighty empire had ceased to exist, and France and Germany 
began their history as separate countries. 

THE SEA-ROVERS. 

Charlemagne and the Sea-Bovers. — Let us leave the his- 
tory of the continent for the present to take up for a while 
that of the lords of the sea. Charlemagne by his victories 
had put a limit to the movement of the invading tribes by 
Jand, but the ocean lay open before them, and over this 
his armies could not march. We are told that once, when 
from the western shores of his realm he looked out upon 
the sea, he saw there some long black boats with dragon 
prows, and crowded with armed warriors. The great king 
knew well what this threatened, and he burst into tears 
as he thought of the suffering those sea-rovers would yet 
bring to his land. He was not wrong, for within thirty 



THE DARK AGES 317 

years after his death they had descended with blood and 
fire upon France. 

The Land of the Northmen. — The first of these sea- 
rovers to sail to the south were the Angles and Saxons, 




A Soldier and Ship of the Saxons. 

who conquered England after the Romans withdrew, and 
established there an Anglo-Saxon kingdom. North of the 
land of the Saxons lay Denmark and its islands and the 
sea- washed peninsula of Sweden and Norway. Here dwelt 
a host of hardy and daring barbarians, who made the sea as 
much their home as the land. They were fishers at first, 
but in time they became pirates. They were known as 



318 



MEDIAEVAL HISTORY 



Northmen or Norsemen, and were dreadfully feared, and 
with good reason, by the people of the south. 

The Coming' of the Eovers. — We know nothing of these 
people till about the year 800, but in the century that fol- 
lowed they brought untold misery and ruin to southern 
lands. Every summer their black craft, tilled with armed 




Norman Vessel of the Eleventh Century. 
(From the Bayeux tapestry.) 

men, could be seen, as Charlemagne saw them, creeping 
along the shores of Germany, France, and England, or being 
rowed up their inlets and streams. Dashing ashore, the sea- 
rovers would plunder, burn, and murder all before them, 
and be far away in their boats before a force could be 
gathered to meet them. As the years went on they grew 
bolder and more numerous, and began to settle on the 
.shores they had ravaged, defeating all who attacked them. 

Exploits of the Northmen. — This kept on for two or 
three centuries, the Northmen being as bold and ruthless as 
the Angles and Saxons had been before them. We can 
only briefly tell the story of their work. They feared the 
stormy sea so little that they sailed daringly into the unknown 
west, and discovered Iceland and afterwards Greenland. 
They even reached the coast of America. Others of them 



THE DARK AGES 319 

invaded Russia and gave kings to that great realm. But we 
are here concerned only with those who turned their prows 
to the sunny south. 

The Danes in England. — It was about 800 when these 
rovers first appeared off the coasts of England. They were 
known as Danes, and spread great terror and caused terri- 
ble suffering. Being pagans, they delighted in burning the 
Christian churches, and the clergy everywhere fervently 
prayed, " From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord, 
deliver us." 

The Danish Conquest. — In 871 Alfred the Great came to 
the throne, and for thirty years fought with these fierce 
invaders. For a time he was driven to the woods and 
swamps, but in the end he conquered them and made them 
his subjects. But after his death the war kept up for a cen- 
tury, and then Canute, the King of Denmark, became King 
of England (1016). Thus had the Saxons and the Danes 
become masters of that island. The Normans, of the same 
blood, were still to come to its conquest. 

The Ravage of the Northmen. — The Normans were the 
Northmen who had settled in France. They were of the 
same origin as those called Danes in England. While some 
of these invaded that island, others swept along the shores 
of France and Spain, and sailed up their rivers, doing a 
great deal of damage. Paris and other cities were besieged, 
and in the year 918 Charles the Simple found himself forced 
to cede a large district in the north of France to Rollo, one 
of the leaders of the Northmen. In return they agreed to 
become Christians and subjects of the king. 

The Normans. — Charles had acted wisely. Rollo and 
his followers were able to hold the land against new in- 
vaders, and they took up the civilized customs of France 



320 



MEDIEVAL HISTORY 



with wonderful rapidity. The name Northmen was changed 
to Norman, and the newcomers adopted the manners, lan- 
guage, and religion of France. But 
they kept up their old spirit of daring 
and adventure, and the sea-rovers in 
time were transformed into Christian 
knights and warriors. These were the 
people who, under William of Nor- 
mandy, invaded and conquered Eng- 
land in 1066. About the same time 
"a party of them landed in the south 
of Italy, and formed there a sort of 
republic, which spread over the island 
of Sicily. One of its presidents, Rob- 
ert Guiscard, made himself famous as 
a conqueror. The republic under 
him became a kingdom, which existed until 1194. 




A Warrior of the Franks. 



CHAPTER V 
THE POPES AND THEIR INFLUENCE 

A Look Backward. — We have, in the past chapters, gone 
over a long and vital period in the history of the world. 
We have seen how Rome grew to be a mighty power, cov- 
ering all the civilized world. By Rome we mean not the 
city, but the great empire which it ruled. Next, over this 
region swept the fierce tribes from the north of Europe and 
Asia and the deserts of Arabia, and when their work was 
done the mighty empire had disappeared, except the small 
remnant left in the east, and the period of the Dark Ages 
had begun. Afterwards came the daring sea-rovers from the 
far north and conquered England and parts of France and 
Italy. Not until they had settled down to peace in their 
new homes was the era of invasion at an end and the new 
nations of Europe free to begin their true development. 

The Bishop of Rome. — But Rome had not lost all its 
power and dominion. There was still in the old city a ruler 
whose power spread far and wide. This was the Pope, the 
bishop of Rome, whose rule was over men's souls. As time 
went on Christianity spread throughout a great part of 
Europe, driving out the old paganism, and wherever it went 
the dominion of the Pope extended. Kings might rule over 
men's bodies, but the great bishop of Rome ruled over their 
minds and souls, and the time came when the greatest 
monarchs of Europe did not dare to disobey his commands. 
In this way, as we have said, Rome became the seat of an 
imperial ruler of a new kind. 

21 321 



322 



MEDIEVAL HISTORY 



The Organization of the Church. — We cannot go on 
with the history of mankind without giving a chapter to the 
rise of the papal power. In old Roman times the Christian 
Church existed as a kind of republic under the empire. It 




CLOVIS ENTERING TOURS DRESSED IN ROMAN COSTUME. 

had its elected officers, — priests, bishops, archbishops, and 
patriarchs. In time there grew to be two great patriarchs, 
the bishops of Rome and Constantinople ; but the rule of 
the bishop of Constantinople finally became confined to the 
small Greek Empire, while that of the Roman bishop ex- 
tended over the rest of the Christian world, and his power 
over nations and kings became very great indeed. 

The Pope's Power spreads. — The Roman bishop was 
called pater or papa (father), from which came the English 
word pope. He had no royal power, except over the small 
province which Pepin and Charlemagne had given him, but 
his moral influence was very great. All over the Christian 
world were churches and monasteries and convents, with 
their priests and monks and nuns, many thousands in num- 
ber, including nearly all the learned and thinking men of the 



THE DARK AGES 323 

age, and all of these looked upon the Pope as their lord on 
earth, supreme over the mightiest kings. Missionaries went 
out from Rome to preach the gospel to the heathens, and 
wherever they went the power of Rome extended. Not 
only the clergy looked on the Pope as the supreme au- 
thority, but hosts of the people did the same. In their 
view the Pope held the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and 
could do far more for them than any king. Thus, while 
Europe was divided into many kingdoms, with their earthly 
monarchs, the dominion of the Pope covered them all. 

From Poverty to the Papacy. — As the centuries went on 
the power of the popes grew greater and greater, until the 
mightiest of monarchs did not dare to disobey their words. 
The Pope was not like a king, born to his high office. He 
was more like the President of the United States, — like 
Abraham Lincoln, for example, who was born a very poor 
boy, but raised himself by his genius to the head of the 
nation. It was the same with the popes, many of whom 
were born poor and were elected to the papacy because 
they showed themselves men of great minds. 

The Rise of Hildebrand. — One of the greatest and most 
famous of the popes was Hil'debrand, who began life as a 
humble monk, the son of a poor carpenter of Tus'cany. 
He showed himself so learned and able that he was called 
to Rome to give advice and counsel to the popes, and was 
himself elected Pope in 1073. As Pope he took the name 
of Greg'ory VII. He was the great man of his age, the most 
notable character of the Middle Ages after Charlemagne. 

Secular Power in Church Appointments. — The Church 
at that time had grown very rich. The churches and mon- 
asteries had gone on gaining lands till they held about half 
the land of western Europe. There were many high posi- 



324 



MEDIEVAL HISTORY 



tions to be filled, posts of power and importance, and these 
had fallen into the hands of lords and princes, who often 
gave them to their favorites or sold them to the highest bid- 
der. In this way many unworthy men came to be bishops 
or other high officers in the Church. 

Gregory's Famous Decree. — Gregory looked on this as a 
great evil, and he made up his mind to put an end to it. So 

he issued an order that no lord 
or monarch should have the 
power of giving the ring and 
staff — the emblems of his office 
— to a clergyman, no one but 
the Pope himself. Any one who 
did not obey this order would 
be excommunicated. Excom- 
munication was a great power 
in the hands of the popes. It 
cut off a man from his fellow- 
man. No one could give such 
a man food or shelter without 
great danger to himself. If he 
were a king, his subjects no 
longer had to obey him. 
A Storm in Europe. — You may be sure that this decree of 
the Pope raised a great storm in Europe. It took from kings 
and lords a valuable power which they had long possessed. 
None of them now could appoint a high officer of the Church, 
and help themselves by doing so. Not only the princes, but 
many of the clergy, opposed it, for many of them had gained 
their offices in this way, and often were very unfit for them. 
Henry IV. and. the Pope. — One of the great monarchs, 
the Emperor Henry IV. of Germany, said that the Pope was 




HlLDEBRAND, POPE GREGORY VII. 



THE DARK AGES 325 

going beyond his authority, and that he would not obey any 
such decree. He went so far as to call a council of the clergy 
of Germany and depose the Pope from his office. Gregory, 
in return, called a council and excommunicated the emperor. 

An Excommunicated Emperor. — Never had such a thing 
been done before, but the people soon saw the power of the 
Pope. Henry was shunned by his people as an unholy 
man. Monks and friars preached against him all through his 
kingdom. Insurrections arose on all sides, and all his power 
seemed slipping away. Henry had entered Italy to take 
revenge on the Pope, but he found himself deprived of all 
control over his people, and was forced to beg mercy at the 
hands of the poor carpenter's son. 

Henry's Humiliation. — Gregory was at Canos'sa, a moun- 
tain town of Italy, and thither went Henry, a wretched peni- 
tent, to ask his pardon. But Gregory refused to see him, and 
for three days the late great emperor stood barefoot and clad 
only in a woollen shirt in a court of the palace, shivering in 
the winter cold, and humbly waiting for permission to kneel 
at the Pope's feet and beg for forgiveness. Only then did the 
Pope admit him and free him from the excommunication. 

The End of the Struggle. — Henry had his revenge. He 
went home and raised an army, with which he invaded 
Italy and forced Gregory to flee from Rome. The great 
Pope -died at Saler'no, saying, "I have loved justice and 
hated iniquity, and therefore I die in exile." But the proud 
emperor did not triumph, for he was excommunicated by the 
succeeding pope, and after a long struggle with the Church 
and with his own sons he died of a broken heart. 

The Popes win. — The popes who succeeded Gregory kept 
up his policy, and one after another the kings of Europe 
were forced to yield. The emperors came last, but in 1122 



326 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

the Emperor Henry V. gave up all claim to appoint the 
clergy to office, and thus the papal power won. 

Innocent III. — The power of the popes was now at its 
height. Innocent III. (1198-1216) was the most powerful 
of them all. He claimed that all the kings of earth were vas- 
sals of the bishop of Rome, and he went far to prove this. 
He humbled King John of England, and forced him to pay 
him tribute. He forced Philip Augustus of France to take 
back the wife he had divorced. He made the Roman pre- 
fect of the emperor swear allegiance to him. Nearly all the 
kings of Europe swore submission to him as their overlord, 
and once more Rome seemed to be " mistress of the world." 

The Begging- Friars. — About this time there were organ- 
ized two new bodies among the clergy, the Dominicans and 
the Francis' cans, named after their founders, St. Dominic and 
St. Francis. Instead of devoting themselves to solitude and 
prayer in monasteries, these new monks went abroad to 
preach. They were vowed to poverty, and lived solely on 
the charity of the pious, so that they became known as 
"begging friars." Rut they increased in numbers with the 
greatest rapidity, and were greatly favored by the popes, 
whose authority they ardently supported. 

The Decline of the Papal Power. — The papacy, as we 
have said, reached its highest power under Innocent III. A 
century later it was removed from Rome to Avignon (a-ven- 
yon') in France, and while there all the popes were French 
and were under the influence of the French kings. Quarrels 
broke out in church and state, and at one time there were 
as many as three popes at once. All this weakened the 
papal power, and the kings, while admitting them to be su- 
preme in spiritual affairs, in time broke loose from their 
authority in all political concerns. 



CHAPTER VI 
FEUDALISM AND CHIVALRY 

The Feudal System. — History is not confined to the 
story of things that were done by kings and great men, but 
it has also much to do with the way men lived and in what 
manner they were bound together into tribes and nations. 
The mode in which this was done in the mediaeval period 
was very curious, and it is important you should know some- 
thing about it. It is known as the Feu'dal system, or Feu- 
dalism, which name comes from the way in which the land 
was held. 

How the Land was divided. — When a Teutonic chief, 
with his tribe or army, conquered a new country, it was the 
custom to divide the land among them, the chief taking a 
very large portion — the lion's share — and each of his fol- 
lowers receiving a share suitable to his position and service. 
Then, as time went on, the chief or king often gave parts 
of his own estate to favored persons, who in return agreed 
to be faithful to him and be ready to follow him in war. 
The land thus given was called a fief or feud (from which 
comes the word feudal), and was held only during the king's 
pleasure. The man who did not take arms when called on 
to fight might quickly lose his estate, which would be given 
to some one braver or more faithful. In like manner those 
who held extensive estates often divided them up on the 
same principle, giving tracts of land to men who agreed to 
serve and fight for them. The same was done by bishops 

327 



328 



MEDIEVAL HISTORY 



and abbots who held large tracts of land. They often gave 
estates to knights who agreed to defend the monasteries. 

The Duties of Lords and Vassals. — In this way, in 
time, whole countries became divided up, the great lords 
agreeing to fight, with their followers, for the king, in pay- 
ment for their lands ; the lesser lords to fight for the great 
ones, and so on downward to the poorest freeman and land- 
holder. The lords, in return, promised to defend and pro- 
tect their vassals. Even kings might be vassals to other 
kings. In this way William the Conqueror, King of Eng- 
land, was a vassal of the King of France for the lands which 
he held from him as Duke of Normandy. 




Knights and Men-at-Arms. 
(From an eleventh century miniature.) 



How Armies were raised. — Thus a whole nation be- 
came organized as an army. If the king had a war on 
hand, he called on each of .his vassals to come to his aid at 



THE DARK AGES 329 

a certain time and place with so many armed men. These 
great nobles called in the same way on their vassals, and 
those in turn called on theirs, until the call went down to 
the farmers and yeoman who held feudal lands from the 
lower lords. Thus there quickly came together a large 
force of armed men, each paying his own way, or being 
paid for by his lord, and the king being at no cost. 

I Serfs and City People. — Of course, this did not include 
all the people. There were large numbers of serfs, men 
who were not quite slaves, but who were bound to the land 
as workers and could not leave it. If it changed masters, 
they remained on it. These were probably the old people 
of the country, who were held in this way by their new 
masters. Then there were the merchants and workmen in 
the cities, Who were freemen but not land-holders. 

Castles and their Uses. — There was plenty of fighting 
going on, not only between the kings, but between the 
lords, for they were rude, fierce, and quarrelsome, and many 
of them lived by war and plunder. So their houses became 
castles, — strong stone buildings, usually placed on some hill 
or high rock, and defended by strong walls and moats or 
ditches. Many of these castles were little better than dens 
of thieves, from which bands of armed men rode out for 
plunder, and behind whose walls they defied pursuit. The 
king's power over the lords was often not great, and they 
fought out their own little wars as if each of them was a 
monarch in his own right. Sometimes they defied the king 
and fought with him if he tried to control them. 

An Age of Violence. — You may see that life in those 
days was a very uncertain thing. Everybody seemed to go 
about with a club in his hand ready to knock down his 
neighbor or save himself from being knocked down. Honest 



330 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

and peaceful men had the worst of it. They were always 
in danger of being robbed, if nothing worse was done to 
them. And while this was the way with the rich and noble, 
the great body of the people were little better than slaves. 
There were laws, but the strong and powerful laughed at 
them, and the king was sometimes only the head robber in 
the land. 

The Bad and Good of Feudalism. — Feudalism, you may 
see, was a bad thing in many ways. But it was good in 
some ways, and was perhaps the best thing for such a rude 
and ignorant and quarrelsome age. One of the good things 
which came out of feudalism was what is known as Chiv- 
alry, of which something must now be said. 

The System of Knighthood. — France was the birthplace 
of Chiv'alry, though it spread to other lands and flourished 
over much of Europe for four or five centuries. Chivalry 
was due to the great love of war among the Teutonic 
nations, and also to their high regard for their women. It 
included the system of knighthood, of which we read so 
much in the history of that period. All the sons of the 
nobility, except those set aside for the service of the Church, 
were brought up to be knights. For this they were carefully 
trained, the sons of the poorer lords being brought up in the 
castles of the higher nobles, each of which was a kind of 
sphool in which the art of war was taught. 

The Training- of the Page. — From the age of seven to 
fourteen the boy was called a page or varlet. He attended 
the ladies of the castle in their walks and their sports, was 
taught to be obedient and courteous, and was instructed in 
religion and other useful things, including the use of weapons. 
The ladies instilled in him the gentler virtues of love, honor, 
and gallantry, and he was expected to select one of them as 



THE DARK AGES 



331 



his especial mistress, to whom he devoted himself, and who 
did what she could to teach him the manners and sentiments 
of a gentleman and man of honor. 




The Castle op Salzburg. 



The Duties of the Squire. — At the age of fourteen the 
page became a squire or esquire. He now waited on the 
men instead of the women, and when his lord went to war 
he attended him, leading his war-horse, helping him to put 
on his armor, keeping near him in the fight, giving him a 
fresh lance when needed, and coming to his aid when he 
saw him in danger. In this way the squire learned to fight 
in actual war, and at twenty-one he reached the highest 
dignity of a soldier, — he was made a knight. 

The Making of a Knight. — Sometimes a brave squire 
was made a knight on the battle-field, in reward for some 
signal act of courage. But usually this was done, with 
much more ceremony, in the castle. The ceremony began 
with fasting and confession of his sins and a night spent alone 
in prayer beside his weapons. Then, richly attired, he lis- 



332 MEDIAEVAL HISTORY 

tened to a long sermon on the duties of a knight, and knelt 
before his lord to take the vows. He promised to be a good, 
brave, and gentle knight, to defend religion and the ladies, to 
redress the wrongs of widows and orphans, to rescue those 
in distress, and to be faithful to his comrades. This done, 
his weapons were given him, and the lord who conferred 
the honor struck him on the neck or shoulder with the flat 
side of his sword, saying, " In the name of God, of St. 
Michael, and of St. George, I dub thee knight ; be brave, 
bold, and loyal." 

Arms and Armor of the Middle Ages. — Here we must 
say something about the arms of the knight and the mode 
of warfare in the Middle Ages. It was not very different 
from what it had been in Greek and Roman times. Men 
still fought hand to hand with sword and battle-axe and 
lance. Gunpowder had not been invented, and for distant 
fighting the arrow was still the chief weapon. But there 
was this difference from ancient times. Where the ancient 
warrior defended himself with a shield, a helmet, and a 
breastplate, the knight covered himself from head to feet 
with armor. At one time chain armor was used, made of 
linked rings and hooks of steel. Afterwards plate armor 
was worn, the plates of bright steel overlapping each other. 
The horses also in time were covered with steel armor. 

The Knight and his Followers. — A full-armed knight 
was a brilliant figure, with his glittering steel armor and 
that of his horse, the rich housings of his steed, his waving 
plume, his lance and sword and battle-axe. The swiftest 
arrow glanced off harmless from his firm coat of steel, and 
strong was the hand that could rend through it with sword 
or axe. After him in the field of battle came the men-at- 
arms, with helmet and breastplate, and the archers with 



THE DARK AGES 333 

their bows, each with his own share of the fighting to do. 
The favorite amusement of those days was the tournament, 
in which two companies of noble knights fought in mimic 
battle with blunt spears and pointless swords — or at times 




Single Combat of Knights. 
(From drawing by Albert Durer.) 

with sharp spears and swords. Those who have read Scott's 
famous novel of " Ivanhoe" will have an excellent idea of 
the tournament and the mode of war in the days of knight- 
hood. We have mimic battles nowadays, but they are very 
different from the tournament. 

The Institution of Chivalry. — Chivalry was an excellent 
institution in many ways. It softened the manners of the 
times, taught men to be gentle and honorable, to consider 
truthfulness as the highest duty, to be courteous and chival- 
rous to women, to hate injustice, and to esteem virtue. The 
knight errant wandered about the world seeking adventures, 
in which he pledged himself to maintain the honor and vir- 
tue of knighthood. That this was always done cannot be 
said. There were many who wore armor who were not true 
knights, and as for the lower classes, the high-born knight 



334 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

cared no more for their rights than if they were so many 
wild beasts. So, under a great show of honor and courtesy, 
there was doubtless much cruelty and injustice throughout 
the days of chivalry. 

"What Gunpowder did. — It was the invention of gun- 
powder that put an end to the institution of chivalry, and 
had much to do with the overthrow of feudalism. When 
bullets began to fly, armor of steel was of little use, and was 
soon thrown off to get rid of its unpleasant weight. Battles 
began to be fought at a distance, instead of hand to hand, 
and the serf with his musket might now bring down the 
greatest noble of the land. But many of the virtues of 
chivalry continued, and the knight of old was succeeded by 
the gentleman of modern times. 



CHAPTER VII 
THE ERA OF THE CRUSADES 

The Rescue of Palestine. — During the period when the 
institution of Chivalry was at its height all Europe was 
stirred to its depths by a great and noble purpose, this being 
to rescue Palestine, or the Holy Land, from the hands of the 
infidels who had long held it. This gave rise to a remarkable 
series of wars, called the Crusades, or " Wars of the Cross," 
which were the most prominent events in the history of those 
times. We cannot go on with the story of the nations till 
we have told the history of these famous wars. 

The Christian Pilgrims. — All was well in Palestine while 
the Saracens were its masters. For more than four cen- 
turies they held it, and the Christian pilgrims who came 
there to pray at the place where the Saviour had died were 
well treated. But the Turks, who had long been Moham- 
medans, were now pressing southward from their old homes 
in northern Asia. Bagdad, the capital of the Saracen Em- 
pire, was captured by them, and in 1076 they seized Jeru- 
salem and became the rulers in Palestine. 

The Turks and the Pilgrims. — The Turks were much 
more fanatical than the Saracens, and they insulted, perse- 
cuted, and even killed many of the Christian pilgrims. In 
some cases they destroyed the churches in Jerusalem or 
desecrated them by using them as stables. The news of this 
created great excitement and indignation when it was told 
in Europe. 

335 



336 



MEDIEVAL HISTORY 



Peter the Hermit. — One of the first to tell the- story of 
the doings of the Turks was a French pilgrim called Peter 
the Hermit. On his return from Jerusalem he told the 
Pope, Urban II., how he and the other pilgrims had been in- 
sulted and cruelly treated. The Pope was deeply grieved by 




Peter the Hermit and the Patriarch of Jerusalem. 



the story, and bade him to preach it through Europe. This 
he did, in a fervent and eloquent way that filled his hearers 
with revengeful fury. The desire to drive the infidel Turks 
out of the Holy Land became a consuming passion. 

The Council at Clermont. — Two councils were held in 
1095 at the call of the Pope, who himself spoke to a great 
multitude at the second, held at Clermont, France. As he 
earnestly bade them to take up the cause of the cross, the vast 
assembly broke out with the cry, "It is the will of God! 1 ' 
and at his suggestion they fastened a cross of red cloth on 



THE DARK AGES 



337 



their shoulders as a token that they were ready to march 
under that emblem. The 15th of August of the next year 
was fixed upon as the time for the great army to set out for 
Palestine. 

Peter and. his Host. — This was too slow for the ex- 
cited multitude who had listened to Peter the Hermit. 
Early in the year 1096 a great host 
set out, said to number two hun- 
dred and seventy-five thousand 
men, women, and children, led by 
Peter himself and by a poor knight 
called Walter the Penniless. A 
reckless band, with no organization 
and little provisions, they foraged on 
the country and committed such 
depredations that the peasantry rose 
in fury and killed thousands of 
them, while thousands more died 
of hunger and exposure. A few of 
them reached Constantinople and 
crossed into Asia Minor, and these 
were met by the Turks, who cut 
the miserable remnant to pieces. 
Such was the bloody and disastrous beginning of the 
Crusades. 

The Army of Crusaders. — It was later in , the year 
when the real army set out, a vast host, estimated at from 
three hundred thousand to six hundred thousand, among 
whom it is said were one hundred thousand knights in full 
armor. Among their leaders were Godfrey of Bouillon, 
Duke of Lorraine ; Robert, Duke of Normandy ; Tancred, 
"the Mirror of Knighthood," and others of note. 

22 




A Knight op the Cross. 



338 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

From Constantinople to Antioch. — Passing through 
Europe by various routes, this grand army reached Con- 
stantinople, crossed the Bosporus, and fought its way through 
Asia Minor. The Turks laid waste the land in front of the 
invaders, and nearly half of them died of hunger, thirst, heat, 
and fatigue before Syria was reached. Here they took 
Antioch, the capital city, after a dreadful siege lasting seven 
months, and from there marched upon Jerusalem. 

In Sight of Jerusalem. — Out of the vast multitude that 
had left Europe only about twenty thousand warriors 
reached Jerusalem, with as many more pilgrims and camp- 
followers. When the Holy City appeared before their eyes 
they became frantic with joy, embracing one another and 
kneeling to kiss the ground. Then they took off their 
shoes and marched, singing joyfully, with bare heads and 
feet. 

The Massacre of the Moslems. — The Saracens at that 
time held Jerusalem, having taken Palestine from the Turks. 
They defended the city bravely and it was five weeks before 
the Crusaders succeeded in entering its walls (1099). A 
bloody massacre of the Moslems followed, nearly all the Sar- 
acens in the city being slaughtered, while the soldiers took 
possession of their houses and property. 

The Kingdom of Jerusalem. — The victors lost no time 
in founding a Christian government, giving it the name of the 
Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Godfrey of Bouillon, the great 
chief of the Crusaders, was elected its king. He refused to 
wear a crown of gold in the city where his Saviour had worn 
a crown of thorns, and would accept no title but that of 
Defender of the Holy Sepulchre. Many of the Crusaders 
now went home, leaving the new monarch only a small force 
to maintain his throne. 



THE DARK AGES 



339 



The Second Crusade. — There were various other Cru- 
sades, there being eight in all, but most of them were of 
little importance. As for the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, 
it was maintained for nearly a century (1099-1187). But 




St. Bernard Preaching the Second Crusade. 



after half a century it was in such danger of being over- 
thrown by the Turks that a second Crusade was sent out to 
save it from ruin. This was a great movement. The elo- 
quent monk, St. Bernard, preached it through France and 
Germany, and not only barons, knights, and the common 
people, but great monarchs, took part in it, being led by 
Conrad III. of Germany and Louis VII. of France. Starting 
in 1147, it numbered three hundred thousand men. 

The Fate of the Crusaders. — The story of this Crusade 
can soon be told. The German army was betrayed by the 
emperor at Constantinople, who hated Conrad, and nearly 
the whole of it was destroyed by the Turks or perished of 



340 MEDIAEVAL HISTORY 

hunger and thirst. The French had not- much better fortune. 
They also had to fight their way against foes and famine, 
and very few of the great host, which had set out with so 
gallant a show, set foot in Jerusalem. 

The Orders of Knighthood. — One thing we must speak 
of here, the organization in Jerusalem of the famous religious 
orders of knighthood. One of these was the Knights of St. 
John, or the Hospitallers, formed among the monks of the 
Hospital of St. John. A second was the Knights Templars, 
or the Knights of the Temple, the building they occupied 
being on the site of Solomon's Temple. Somewhat later was 
formed the order of Teutonic Knights. These warriors not 
only took care of the crusaders and pilgrims needing aid, 
but they battled bravely for the .cross and won great fame. 
Many of the ablest knights of Europe joined them, and in 
time they grew very rich and had large estates and many 
castles in Europe and Asia. 

Saladin takes Jerusalem. — But as time went on the 
Latin kingdom grew weak and the Mohammedan power 
grew strong. Sal'adin, a brave young chief, made himself 
Sultan of Egypt and then invaded Palestine, where he took 
town after town, and in 1187 he besieged and captured 
Jerusalem. The Christians were defeated on all sides, and 
only the city of Tyre, on the sea-coast, was left to them in 
Palestine. 

The Third Crusade. — The news of the fall of Jerusalem 
created intense excitement in Europe. On all sides there 
was mustering of armed multitudes, eager to fight to the 
death for the Holy City. Kings again came to the head, 
Richard the " Lion-hearted 1 ' of England, Philip Augustus 
of France, and Frederick Barbaras' sa (Red-beard) of Ger- 
many. Each of these led a gallant host, but Frederick was 



THE DARK AGES 341 

drowned in Asia Minor and his army was so disorganized 
that only a small fraction of it reached Syria. The English 
and French went by water and were more fortunate. 

Richard, and Saladin. — Not much of importance was 
done by this crusade. It took nearly two years to capture 




The Capitulation of Acre. 

the one city of Acre, around which six hundred thousand 
men gathered. Then Philip of France grew angry at Richard 
of England and took his men back to France. Richard was 
a bold and hard fighter, but Saladin was very brave and 
able, and many were the daring exploits of these two famous 
men. In the end (in 1192) Richard made a truce with Sal- 
adin, who had shown himself as generous and courteous a 
knight as any of those he fought with. Thus ended the 
Third Crusade. Richard had made enemies among the Ger- 
mans as well as the French, and on his way home he was 
taken prisoner in Austria and kept within prison walls for 
nearly two years. If you read Scott's " Ivanhoe 1 ' you will 



342 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

have a fine picture of how he returned home and defeated 
his brother John, who was trying to seize the throne. 

The other Crusades. — These are the only Crusades of 
which it is necessary to speak. The Fourth Crusade (1202- 
1204) did not reach Palestine at all, but got into war with 
the Greeks of Constantinople and captured that city, where 
they founded a Latin empire that lasted more than half a 
century. The four other Crusades were minor affairs. In 
1228 Frederick II., Emperor of Germany, got possession of 
Jerusalem, but it was held only a few years. 

The Children's Crusade. — One of the most remarkable 
events of these strange times was the Children's Crusade. 
In 1212 the crusading fever seized even the children. A 
French peasant boy of twelve years of age, named Stephen, 
began to preach that Jesus Christ had commanded him to 
lead an army of children to rescue the Holy Sepulchre. His 
preaching set the children wild with excitement, and they 
gathered in vast crowds. "Even bolts and bars could not 
hold them," we are told. Fifty thousand German children, 
mostly boys under twelve, but with many girls also, set out 
and crossed the Alps and marched through Italy, looking 
for a miraculous pathway across the sea. Several thousand 
of them sailed away, but they were never heard of again. 
There were about thirty thousand of the French children, 
many of whom sailed from Marseilles. But these were be- 
trayed and sold as slaves to the Mohammedans. These 
children must have been helped by men who were as niad 
as they, and nothing shows better how ignorant and super- 
stitious and fanatical were the people of Europe in that age 
of mental gloom. 

The Good done by the Crusades. — The Crusades did 
much good, even if they did not win the Holy Land. They 



THE DARK AGES 343 

'brought the people of the nations of Europe together, and 
taught them to know each other better and become more 
brotherly in feeling. They also made them more generous 
towards the infidels, whom they had looked on as monsters 
of wickedness, but found to be gallant and honorable men. 
The people got to know much about the products of the east, 
and an active commerce in these products sprang up. An- 
other thing was the sale of many properties of the nobility, 
which made the Church rich by their purchase and also 
helped to break up the strength of the feudal system and give 
power to the kings. Men also learned something of the arts 
of the east, they grew far more liberal in spirit, with larger 
ideas and wider views, and a great revival of the intellect of 
Europe began. The Dark Ages were at an end. 

THE ASIATIC MIGRATIONS. 

The Coming- of the Turks. — It was the coming of the 
Turks that gave rise to the Crusades. These Turks belonged 
to that region of Asia from which the Huns had come many 
centuries before. Their coming was the beginning of a vast 
and terrible migration from the steppes of the centre and 
north of Asia, the home of the great pastoral, or cattle- 
raising, races of that wide region. It was the last of the 
mighty southern movement of the fierce northern tribes, 
and can best be told of here. 

The Terrible Deeds of the Mongols. — The Turks were 
a powerful people, but there was another people named the 
Mongols, who were building up a wonderful kingdom in 
Asia about the time of the Third and Fourth Crusades. 
Their leader, Genghis-Khan (born in 1156), was one of the 
greatest and most blood-thirsty conquerors the world has 
ever known. Attila, the terrible leader of the Huns, did 



344 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

not work a tenth of the havoc of the savage Mongol leader. 
In a few years he swept, with his wild horsemen, over most 
of Asia, and built up a mighty empire at a cost of fifty 
thousand towns and cities and five million lives. His suc- 
cessors conquered China and Russia. One of them, named 
Tam'erlane, or Timour the Lame, was as great and sangui- 
nary a warrior as himself, and in turn led his hordes over 
Asia, killing so many people that he had a great pyramid 
built of human skulls. Many districts that swarmed with 
life were left bare and desolate by these savage hordes, and 
have never recovered from that terrible scourge. But the 
great Mongol Empire soon fell to pieces, one of its relics 
being the Mogul kingdom in India, which lasted for three 
hundred years, and was a great and splendid kingdom which 
has left us many magnificent buildings. Russia was under 
the rule of the Mongol Khan for two centuries. 

The Conquests of the Turks. — While the Mongols were 
at their terrible work the Turks became active again. These 
were called the Ottoman Turks, after their leader Othman. 
They conquered all before them in Asia Minor and invaded 
Europe, where their leader Baj'azet met a great army of the 
warriors of Hungary, Germany, and France, one hundred 
thousand strong, and cut them to pieces at Nicop'olis, in 
Bulgaria (1396). The proud Turk vowed that he would 
make the great Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome a stable for 
his horses ; but first he turned back to capture Constanti- 
nople. 

The Fall of Constantinople. — Fortunately Tamerlane 
was then in his high tide of conquest. He attacked the 
Turks, and Bajazet was forced to meet him and was com- 
pletely defeated. That battle saved Constantinople for a 
century and a half longer. After the Mongol Empire fell to 



THE DARK AGES 



345 



pieces the Turks grew strong again, and in the year 1453 
Mohammed II. besieged the Greek capital with an army of 
over two hundred thousand men. For fifty-three days his 
artillery battered its walls, and then the Turks broke in and 




Church of St. Sophia, Constantinople. 

the city was theirs. The last emperor, Constantine, was 
killed fighting in the street, and the cross on the dome of 
St. Sophia was replaced by the crescent, which, remains 
there to this day. Thus fell the Greek Empire, a thousand 
years after the fall of the empire of Rome. 



SUMMARY OF EARLY MEDIEVAL HISTORY. 

Odoacer (the first king of Italy) 476 a.d. 

Theodoric the Great defeats Odoacer and conquers 

Italy 493 

Justinian reconquers Italy for the Eastern Empire 554 

The Lombard kingdom founded in Northern Italy 568 

Clovis conquers Gaul 486 

Clovis becomes a Christian 496 

Mohammed is born in Arabia 570 

The Saracens conquer Syria 632 

Conquest of Persia 632-641 



346 



MEDIEVAL HISTORY 



Egypt and Northern Africa overrun 638-689 a.d 

Constantinople besieged 668-716 

Conquest of Spain 711 

Invasion of France ; battle of Tours 732 

Haroun-al-Raschid, the great Caliph ... . . 786 

The Magyars invade Europe 889 

The first coming of the Turks, about 800 

Charles Martel (Mayor of the Palace in France) . 715 

Charles defeats the Saracens at Tours 732 

Pepin the Short (Mayor of the Palace) is crowned 

King of France 752 

Charlemagne (Charles the Great) succeeds to the 

throne 768 

He conquers Lombardyand is crowned its king . 774 
Invades and conquers Saxony ; invades Spain ; 

makes great conquests in Germany .... 772-798 
Charlemagne crowned by the Pope as Emperor of 

the West 800 

The Angles and Saxons invade and conquer Brit- 
ain, about 450 

Egbert, the first king of all England 827 

The Danes invade England, about 800 

Alfred the Great 871 

His wars with the Danes ; final victory .... 878 

The Normans begin their raids in France, about . 800 
They besiege Paris ; are granted the province of 

Normandy 918 

Canute the Dane made King of England .... 1016 

The Feudal System established in Europe, after . 800 
The Institutions of Chivalry and Knighthood, 

about 1100-1500 

Otto the Great of Germany restores the Empire of 

the West (the Holy Roman Empire) 962 

Hildebrand (Gregory VII.) humbles the Emperor 

Henry IV 1093 

The Crusades 1095-1272 

Peter the Hermit tells of the sufferings of the 

Pilgrims 1095 



THE DARK AGES 



347 



The fate of Peter's followers . 1096 

The First Crusade 1096 

Antioch and Jerusalem taken by the Crusaders . 1099 
Godfrey of Bouillon crowned King, of Jerusalem . 1099 

The Second Crusade 1147 

Religious orders of knighthood originate with 

the Knights Templars 1119 

Saladin takes Jerusalem 1187 

The Third Crusade 1189 

Richard the Lion-Hearted and Saladin 1192 

The Children's Crusade 1212 

The other Crusades 1202-1272 

Pope Innocent III. and the power of the Papacy . 1198 
King Philip of France and John of England hum- 
bled by Pope Innocent III 1200, 1208 

The Begging Friars are instituted 1170-1182 

Decline of the papal power after . 1300 

The Ottoman Turks invade Europe 1353 

Genghis-Khan and the Mongol conquests . . 1164-1227 

Timour the Lame 1336 

The terrible Mongol ravages 1210-1405 

Constantinople taken by the Turks ...... 1453 



SECTION II.— THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 

CHAPTER I 
MEDIEVAL PROGRESS 

The Age of Revival. — It is not easy to fix a date for the 
end of the Dark Ages and the beginning of the revival of 
learning and civilization. The Dark Ages are held to have 
lasted from the fall of Rome to the eleventh century, a period 
of five or six hundred years ; but before this century learn- 
ing showed some signs of reviving, and after it came in the 
revival went on very slowly. No doubt the Crusades had 
much to do with aiding this new growth of civilization. 

A New Growth in Civilization. — Many of our readers 
may wish to know what we mean by the revival of civiliza- 
tion, and it is important to say something about it before we 
go on. It consisted of various things, — the development of 
commerce and manufactures, a great improvement in city 
life, the repression of violence and robbery and the estab- 
lishment of law, the advance in learning, literature, and art, 
and the other steps of progress which make for the higher 
civilization. It meant the passing away of the dense igno- 
rance and rudeness of manners of the earlier centuries, the 
repression of the robber barons, the development of chivalry 
and courtesy, the opening of schools, the study of ancient 
authors, and the coming of new authors and new readers. 

The Feudal Cities. — Let us first speak of the rise of the 
cities. When the feudal system was at its height the cities 
became part of it. The merchants were robbed of money 

348 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 



349 



and goods at the very gates of the cities, and to prevent this 
they put themselves under the protection of powerful lords, 
who agreed to defend them in return for their assistance in 




Summons to a Town to surrender. 
(From an old engraving.) 

time of need. Other lords took possession of cities by force, 
and in these Avays many towns and cities were brought into 
the feudal system. 

The Rebellion of the Cities. — But the protecting lords 
were often as bad as the robber barons, making the mer- 
chants pay dearly for their protection, and in the eleventh 
century many of the cities, which had become rich and 
strong, began to rebel against the way they were treated. 
In time they forced the lords to give them charters, and won 
the right of managing their own affairs. Some grew so 
wealthy and densely peopled that they became quite free from 
control by the feudal lords, and ruled themselves like little 
republics. This was especially the case with the cities of 
Italy and to some extent with those of Germany. 



350 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

The City-States of Italy. — In Italy there came to be a 
strange state of affairs. Each of the cities in time grew into 
an independent state, until there were about two hundred 
of these in north and central Italy, which attended to their 
own affairs with little heed to pope or emperor. Most im- 
portant among them were Venice and Genoa, which became 
rich and active centres of commerce, and Florence, which 
was a great centre of manufacture, and also became noted 
for its poets and artists and statesmen. These cities did 
not remain republics. Powerful aristocrats in time got con- 
trol of them, and at length they were governed by princes 
or nobles with princely authority. 

The Hanseatic League. — In the north of Europe there 
was a different state of affairs. While the cities of Italy 
were hostile to each other, and were often at war, those of 
Germany combined for the protection of their merchants 
against pirates at sea and robbers on land. They formed a 
strong confederation called the Hanseatic League, which in 
time included eighty-five of their principal towns. The 
league was strong enough to defy lords and princes, and it 
controlled all the commerce of northern Europe. It had 
trading-posts in various foreign cities, the chief of which 
were London, Bruges, Bergen, and Novgorod. This league 
kept long together, and some of its members remained 
'.' free cities" till our own times. 

Manufactures in the Cities. — The cities also became 
active centres of manufacture, and guilds of workingmen 
arose, each of which controlled some special industry. The 
woollen manufacture of Flanders was one of the earliest 
industries, the cities of Ghent and Bruges being its chief 
seats. One by one many other manufactures sprang up, in- 
cluding silk and linen, iron and glassware, and too many 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 



351 



other things to mention, and some of the cities grew so 
wealthy and prosperous that they could well claim to be 
small kingdoms in themselves. 

How the People lived. — While speaking of the cities, 
something should be said of the houses of the people and of 
how men lived. The great barons, as we have said, had 
their strong stone castles, near whose walls there was 




Carts of the Eleventh Centuey. 



usually a village of the common people. These had at first 
very rude houses, but as the Dark Ages passed away men 
began to live better. Before this time there was no such 
thing as a chimney, and the smoke from the fires had to 
make its way through an opening in the roof. Window 
glass was also unknown. This first came into use in the 
fourteenth century. When a house had a second story, it 
had to be reached by a ladder or stairs from outside, and the 
rooms were rough and bare, without plaster or carpets and 
with only a little rough furniture. But as the merchants of 
the cities grew rich they often lived in great style and lux- 
ury, in fine large mansions, with silverware and rich hangings 
and pictures and costly furniture. 

The Grand Cathedrals. — The great works of art of the 
Middle Ages were the cathedrals, — the large and splendid 
churches which adorned many cities. The builders of these 



352 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

developed a style of architecture of their own, changing from 
the round arch of the Roman buildings to the pointed arch 
of the Gothic structures. There are no grander buildings 
in the world than some of the great cathedrals built at this 
time, with their tall spires, their splendid arches, their great 
windows, their elaborate sculptures, their lofty columns. 
Many of them stand to-day, and lovers of art seek Europe 
to gaze upon and dream over these massive and glorious 
works of architecture. 

The Utility of the Schools. — We have mentioned some 
few of the things that were done that men might live better 
and enjoy more comfort and happiness. And while men 
were improving their bodies they were improving their 
minds also. One of the best things done by Charlemagne 
was to start schools in connection with the churches and 
monasteries. For several hundred years these were of very 
little use to the common people, but those who studied to 
enter the ranks of the clergy made use of them, and some 
of these became very learned, so far as there was any learn- 
ing in those days. 

The Schoolmen and their Philosophy. — We cannot say 
that there was much to teach at that time. In the universi- 
ties much attention was given to theology, or the science of 
religious thought, and an odd kind of philosophy was devel- 
oped whose professors were called schoolmen. They tried 
to reason out all the mysteries of faith and religion, and 
many great thinkers appeared, though their writings have 
very little in them that people care to read nowadays. 
They were trying to settle something which nobody could 
settle, yet they did some good in stirring up men's minds 
and making thought more active. Many of the questions 
they disputed about were very absurd, as, for instance, " How 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 353 

many angels can stand on the point of a needle." It was 
thought that spirits took up no space. 

The Universities. — There were great schools and uni- 
versities, in which the schoolmen argued and lectured. 
These, as time went on, grew numerous, and thousands of 
eager students attended them. Chief among them was the 
University of Paris, whose professors included many famous 
and brilliant men, and whose scholars came from all parts 
of Europe. There were also able professors of science, the 
most famous of whom were the English monk Roger Bacon 
and the German monk Albertus Magnus. 

The Ballad-Writers and the Saracens. — But the monks 
were not the only men of thought. There were writers also 
among the common people, and during the Dark Ages many 
ballads and other poems were written, of which only a few 
fragments remain. At that time, as you have already been 
told, the Saracens of Spain had a rich and thriving civiliza- 
tion, in which science was deeply studied, and poems and 
histories were written. This could not help having some 
influence on Europe. We know, for example, that Roger 
Bacon and Albertus Magnus learned much of their science 
in Spain. 

Song"- Writers of France and Germany. — At any rate, 
during the eleventh and twelfth centuries there appeared a 
swarm of poets, singing like so many joyous birds. The 
monks wrote in Latin, but these poets wrote and sang in 
their own languages. In France they were called Trou'- 
badours and in Germany Min'nesingers, and their songs were 
of love and knighthood and chivalry. They roamed as 
minstrels from castle to castle, singing their verses and play- 
ing their guitars, and the castle people were glad enough to 
have them, for life in the castles was often very dull. 

23 



354 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

Some Famous Poems. — Longer poems were written, too. 
In Spain there was a famous romance of war and gallant 
deeds, called the poem of the " Cid," and in Germany a 
grand heroic poem named the " Nibelungen Lied," which is 
still much read. And the Trou'veres of France wrote long 
romances of love and knighthood and adventure and magic 
which were as much enjoyed then as novels are to-day. 

Great Mediaeval "Writers. — Later on, in the thirteenth 
and fourteenth centuries, came some of the greatest poets 
the world has ever known, the Italians, Dan'te and Pe'trarch, 
and the English poet, Chau'cer, whose works are among the 
choicest treasures of literature. And there were prose 
writers as well as poets. There was the famous story- 
writer, Boccaccio (Bokkat'cho), and some able writers on 
history and other subjects. But we must say that in those 
days there were few readers besides the monks and friars, 
and the people had to depend greatly for their enjoyment 
on the wandering minstrels and story-tellers. 

A Host of Thing's. — Much more might be said about the 
literature and the manners and customs of the people, the 
luxury of the rich and the sufferings of the poor, the 
cruelty of the governments and the nobles and the terrible 
punishments inflicted, and a host of things besides, but it 
would take a book to tell it all, and a few words will have 
to serve us here. 

Increase of Luxury. — At the close of the mediaeval 
period commerce and manufacture were very active, and 
the rich nobles indulged in great display and extravagance 
in dress, furniture, and table service. The wearing of hand- 
some apparel and rich ornaments of gold and jewelry be- 
came common among the wealthy, the houses of the people 
were much improved, and coaches were introduced, though 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 355 

for a time only ladies rode in them. The castles were full 
of attendants and the kings entertained thousands at their 
feasts. Gold and silver plate was abundant on the tables 
of the rich, yet such a thing as a fork was not known, and 
the guests took up the food with their fingers. A knight 
and his lady would often eat from the same plate, and many 
things were done which now would be thought very rude 
and barbarous. But not many centuries earlier the fathers 
of those people had wandered like savages in the wild 
woods, so we should not expect too much of them. Cen- 
turies hence people may look on many things we do to-day 
as equally rude and uncivilized. 



CHAPTER II 
ENGLAND IN MEDIEVAL TIMES 

The Development of the Nations. — During the time of 
which we have been reading the nations had been growing in 
strength and organization. Beginning as mere gatherings of 
invading tribes, and going on as groups of semi-independent 
feudal nobles, they gradually developed into settled king- 
doms. By the end of the mediaeval age the new countries 
of Europe had become well-established and firmly governed 
nations, and we must now deal with them one by one. We 
shall begin with England, for this small island was one of 
the most important among them. 

England in Saxon Times. — You have read the first part 
of the story of England : how it was conquered by the 
Romans ; how the Britons became Christians and grew 
civilized ; how they were conquered by the Anglo-Saxons, 
who formed several small kingdoms, which in 827 were 
united by Egbert into one ; how the Danes came and were 
bravely fought by Alfred the Great ; how they came again, 
and Canute, King of Denmark, became King of England also. 
Alfred the Great was a wise and famous king, and so many 
stories are told about him that he is quite a hero of romance. 
At one time he had to wander about disguised as a peasant, 
but by his courage and skill and wisdom he won back the 
throne and did wonderful things for the benefit and improve- 
ment of the people. After Charlemagne, he was the greatest 
and most learned monarch of the Dark Ages. 

356 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 



357 



Canute and Edward. — Canute also was a wise and able 
king, and the country was happy under his rule. But the 
people did not like his sons, and in 1042 Edward the Con- 
fessor, who belonged to the old Saxon line, was called to the 
throne. He was a studious and pious man, but he was not 
much of a king, and after his death great trouble came to 
England. Once more it was conquered by people of the 
Northmen race, this time by the Normans of France. 

William and Harold. — When Edward died, William, the 
Duke of Normandy, claimed the English throne, saying that 
Edward, who had no sons, had promised it to him. But 
the nobles chose for king Earl Harold, a great nobleman, 
who had married Edward's daughter. 




The Battle of Hastings. 



The Battle of Hastings. — Harold soon had his hands 
full. His brother, Tostig, claimed the throne, and got the 
King of Norway to help him win it. Harold hurried north 
to fight Tostig and his Northmen, and won a victory in which 



358 MEDIAEVAL HISTORY 

Tostig was killed. But word came to him that William of 
Normandy was crossing the channel with a large and strong 
army of Norman and French knights and men-at-arms. The 
British king marched to the south in all haste, and met his 
new enemies at a place called Hastings, where a long and 
bloody battle was fought on October 14, 1066. The English 
showed themselves very brave and daring, but the French 
were better armed, and, as night came on, Harold was killed 
and William remained master of the field. On Christmas 
Day of that year, William — who is known in history as 
William the Conqueror — was crowned King of England in 
Westminster Abbey. So, as the Danes had followed the 
Saxons, the Normans followed the Danes. 

"William the Conqueror. — William was a brave and skil- 
ful general, but he was a stern and cruel man. The Saxons 
were held in bondage by the proud Norman barons, who 
were given large estates and built strong castles, and treated 
the people as if they were slaves. The new king was very 
fond of hunting, and, that he might have a forest to hunt in, 
he drove the people out of a tract of country thirty miles 
wide, tearing down their houses and churches and paying 
them nothing for their property. Any one who dared to kill 
game in this forest was punished more cruelly than if he 
had committed murder. 

- The Old Laws and Language preserved. — William in- 
troduced the feudal system into England. But he took care 
that none of the nobles should be too great, for he proposed 
to be master of them all. Stern as he was, he gave peace 
to the land and saw that the laws were obeyed. These were 
the old laws of Saxon times, for he did not interfere much 
with old things. In the court and the church and the law- 
courts the French language was used, but the people clung 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 



359 



to their own speech, and it remained the language of the 
land, though many Norman words came into it. In fact, 
the Saxons and the Danes and the Normans were all the 
same race of people, and they soon came together as one. 
But the great body of the inhabitants were of Anglo-Saxon 
blood, and for that reason their language and customs were 
preserved with little change. 

William Ruftis. — William the Conqueror died in 1087, 
and many kings followed him, with their wars and ambition 
and struggle for power. But all this is of little real impor- 
tance, and we may go over it very rapidly. William left the 




The Death op William Rueus. 



throne to his son William II., called Rufus, from his red hair. 
He was a bold man, but also a cruel one, and was harder on 
the people than his father had been, so they were not sorry 
when strange news came to their ears in 1100. 

How "William II. died. — On a day in that year a poor 
charcoal-burner was driving his cart through the New For- 



360 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

est, — the hunting ground which William the Conqueror had 
made out of the Saxon farms, — when he saw a dead man on 
the ground, with an arrow in his breast. He put the body 
in his cart and brought it out of the forest, when it was 
found to be the corpse of the king, who had been shot 
while out hunting. No one knew whether it was done by 
accident or on purpose, but many of the people said it was 
heaven's vengeance for his father's robbing the people of 
their land. 

The Norman Kings. — After William Rufus came other 
kings of the Norman line, — Henry I. (1100-1135), Stephen 
(1135-1154), and Henry II. (1154-1189). Henry II. was 
the first of those called the Plantagenet kings, a name which 
he brought over from Normandy. Henry I. had married the 
niece of Edgar Atheting, a prince of the old Saxon line, and 
Henry II. was her grandson, so the Norman line seemed at 
an end and the old line of English kings to have come back, 
— or, at least, the two lines were united. 

Henry II. and the Barons. — Henry II. was an able and a 
just king. In Stephen's time the barons had become very 
daring and unruly, plundering and oppressing the people 
and making their castles mere dens of robbers. Henry led 
an army against them and destroyed many of their castles, 
and chose new barons of English blood. And he reformed 
the law-courts, so that more justice could be had. One of 
the great events of his reign was the conquest of Ireland, 
which before his time was governed by a number of chiefs 
or petty kings. Since his reign it has been part of the 
dominion of England. 

Henry's Two Sons. — Henry left two sons who became 
kings, — Richard I., the great fighter who went to Palestine 
and fought with Saladin, and whose story we have told in 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 



361 



the history of the Crusades, and John, a base fellow, who 
tried to steal his brother's throne, and who became king in 
1199, after Richard was killed in a petty fight in France. 

How Magna Charta was won. — John tried to play the 
tyrant, but he found that the English nobles and people had 
no notion of being slaves to their king. He taxed the peo- 
ple as much as he pleased, and plundered and oppressed the 
rich and poor alike. At 
length they got tired of this, 
and in 1215 they went to 
war with him, and whipped 
him so completely that he 
was forced to grant them 
whatever they asked. They 
made him give them a great 
charter of English liberty. 
This is known as "Magna 
Charta," and it took from the 
king the right to tax the 
people at his will or to send 
to prison and punish any one 
he pleased. He could have 
money only when the barons 

were ready to grant it for public needs, and no freeman 
could be punished except by regular process of law. Justice 
was secured for all, from the noble to the serf, and ever 
since then Magna Charta has been the great foundation of 
English liberty. 

The Saxon Witan. — Under Henry III., the son of King 
John, another great step in English liberty was taken. From 
Saxon times there had been in England a kind of Parlia- 
ment, composed of the Witan, or chief men of the nation. 




English Money Dealee of the 
Fifteenth Century. 



362 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

We still have this assembly in the House of Lords. But the 
members of the Witan were great nobles, who looked after 
their own rights and cared very little about the common 
people. There was nobody to speak for the rights of these. 

The Parliament of the People. — Now, the people had 
been helping the nobles in their quarrels with the kings, and 
felt that they ought to have some share of the benefits. 
They joined in the fight against King John, and their rights 
were looked after in Magna Charta. Henry III. also tried to 
act the tyrant, and the nobles and people, under Sir Simon 
Montfort, went to war with him, and defeated and took him 
prisoner. Sir Simon then did a great, thing for English 
freedom. The old assembly was made up of lords and 
knights and great clergymen. He added to it two common 
men from each borough, who were chosen or elected by the 
people. These in time grew into the English House of 
Commons, which obtained the right to control all grants 
of money to the king, and thus became able to keep the 
monarch from doing many things against their wish. In our 
day the House of Commons is the real ruler of the British 
kingdom. 

The Freedom of Scotland and "Wales. — Henry III. had 
a very long reign (1216-1272). His son, Edward L, was a 
warlike king, who had an ambition to rule over the whole 
of the British island. When the Saxons invaded England 
many of the old Britons had made their way into the rugged 
and mountainous country of Wales, and here they still spoke 
their old language and preserved their old liberty. The 
people of Scotland had always kept an independent coun- 
try, which the Romans in vain sought to conquer. It was 
Edward's ambition to conquer these countries and add them 
to England, so as to bring the whole island under one king. 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 363 

Robert Bruce and Bannockburn. — Edward I. succeeded 
in conquering Wales, and made his oldest son the first 
"Prince of Wales.' 1 He tried to conquer Scotland also, and 
for a time got possession of a great part of that country. 
But a noble chieftain, Robert Bruce, appeared in Scotland, 
and fought gloriously for the liberty of his country. For a 
long time he was like Alfred the Great, forced to keep in 
hiding and to flee from the soldiers, who pursued him like 
so many hunting dogs. The story is told that one day 
while he lay in his hiding-place, he saw a spider trying to 
attach its thread to a wall. It failed six times, but in the 
seventh it succeeded. This was a fine lesson in persever- 
ance, and Bruce kept on until he had nearly driven the 
English out of the country. Edward I. died, and his weak 
son, Edward II., marched against the Scottish chief. A fierce 
battle was fought at a place called Bannockburn, at which 
the English met with a terrible defeat. After that they let 
Scotland alone for a time and Robert Bruce reigned as king. 

The Hundred Years' War. — One of the most warlike of 
all the English kings was Edward III., who reigned for fifty 
years (1327-1377). He brought Scotland again under his 
power, but the great wars of his reign were in France, 
where there broke out what was known as the Hundred 
Years' War. It really extended from 1328 to 1453, so that 
it went on for more than a hundred years, though of course 
the actual fighting covered only a small part of this period. 

The Lords of Normandy. — To get at the cause of this 
great war we must go back to the days of William the Con- 
queror. While he and his family held England, they held 
Normandy also, and thus had a large foothold in France. 
They were feudal vassals of the French king, but that did 
not trouble them much. 



364 



MEDIEVAL HISTORY 



The Dominions of Henry II, — Henry II. had a much 
greater dominion in France. His father was Earl of Anjou, 
and his mother ruled over Maine and Normandy, so that 
these three large provinces came to him. And he married 
Eleanor, Duchess of Guienne (Ghe-en'), the divorced wife of 
Louis VII. of France. So he became ruler not only of Eng- 
land, but of the greater part of France. But much of these 
great possessions were lost by John, from whom they were 
conquered by Philip Augustus of France. 

Edward III. at "War with France. — Edward III. was 
not long on the throne before he laid claim also to the 




The Margonneau, a Fifteenth Century Military Machine. 



throne of France, saying that his mother had been daughter- 
.of Philip IV. of France and he was the nearest heir to 
the crown. It was not long before he began to fight for 
it. In 1340 his war-ships destroyed those of France in a 
great naval battle, and in 1346 a famous land battle was 
fought at Cre'cy, in France. The French were much more 
numerous than the English, but they suffered a terrible de- 
feat. It was in this battle that the English first used can- 
non in war. 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 365 

Calais and the Black Death. — Edward next besieged 
and captured the strong city of Calais (Kah'la), which was 
looked on as the key of France, and which the English kept 
for nearly two centuries. Soon after that an event occurred 
which for a time put an end to war in Europe. A fearful 
pestilence, called the Black Death, swept over Europe from 
1347 to 1350, and carried away many millions of the people. 
Half the people of England died, and in some of the cities 
of Germany it is said that not a soul was left alive. 

The Battle of Poitiers. — In 1356 the French suffered an- 
other terrible defeat. The Prince of Wales — called the 
Black Prince, from the color of his armor — was overtaken 
after a plundering expedition in France, at Poitiers (Pwa- 
te-a'), by a French army sixty thousand strong, largely made 
up of the knights and nobles of France. The Black Prince 
had only eight thousand men, but by skilful use of his 
archers he completely overthrew the great French host, and 
killed large numbers of the great nobles of France. The 
French king, John, was taken prisoner. 

Henry V. and Agincourt. — These wars left France in a 
terrible condition. A peace followed Poitiers, but the people 
were almost in a state of starvation, and bands of armed 
brigands roamed about the country, robbing and murdering 
at will. For half a century there was no actual fighting 
between England and France ; then Henry V., who became 
king in 1413, brought up the old claim to the French 
throne, invaded the country with a powerful army, and in 
1415 won a great victory at Agincourt (A-zhan-cour'). 

Henry VI., King of England and Prance. — This dis- 
aster took the very heart out of the French, who were left 
in a state of misery and despair. Their country was almost 
a desert, and a large party among them agreed that the 



366 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

English monarch should be their king on the death of the 
insane king, Charles VI., who was then on the throne. Henry 
died before this happened, but his son, Henry VI., was pro- 
claimed king of England and France. 

Joan of Arc. — The liberty of France seemed lost, but 
in its most desperate condition a wonderful thing happened. 
A young peasant girl, known in history as Joan of Arc, felt 
that she was chosen by heaven to save France. She was 
put at the head of the army, rescued the city of Orleans 
from the British, won other victories, and brought the new 
king, Charles VII., to Rheims to be crowned. Then the 
British took her prisoner and burned her as a witch. But 
she had given new spirit to the French, and the war now 
went against the English, until by 1453 the city of Calais was 
the only stronghold they held in France. Thus ended the 
Hundred Years' War, in the very year that Constantinople 
was taken by the Turks. 

Wat Tyler's Insurrection. — One of the most important 
things that took place in England during this war was a 
rebellion of the people, who were dreadfully oppressed by 
taxation and the unjust actions of the nobles. A great body 
of them, led by one Wat Tyler, marched to London and 
demanded redress. They committed many acts of violence, 
but in the end Wat Tyler was killed and his followers were 
induced to go home, under promise of redress. This prom- 
ise, made by the king, Richard II., was not kept. 

The "Wars of the Roses. — The war in France was fol- 
lowed by a long and terrible civil war in England. It was a 
struggle between the descendants of Edward III. for the 
throne, the adherents of the rival houses of York and 
Lancaster fighting desperately to win the power. It was 
called the Wars of the Roses, because the Yorkists wore 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 



367 



a white rose as their badge and the Lancastrians a red 
rose. 

Bosworth Field and the Death of Richard III. — The 
war lasted thirty years and twelve pitched battles were 
fought, during which three kings of 
the House of York — Edward IV., Ed- 
ward V., and Richard III. — occupied 
the throne. The bloody contest ended 
with the battle of Bosworth Field in 
1485, in which King Richard III. was 
defeated and killed ; his rival of the 
House of Lancaster — Henry Tudor, 
Earl of Richmond — succeeding to the 
throne as Henry VII. The most im- 
portant result of these wars was the 
ruin of the barons of England, one- 
half of the nobility being slain. This 
greatly increased the power of the 

king, for now he had only the people to deal with, so that 
it became easier for him to act the tyrant. 




An English Archer. 



CHAPTER III 
FRANCE AND SPAIN 

Mediaeval France. — The history of France in mediaeval 
times next demands our attention. It is a history full of 
incident and change, but you have already read much of it, 
and little remains to be told. It was not until after the reign 
of the mighty Emperor Charlemagne that France existed as 
a separate nation. Afterwards, for centuries, most of its 
kings were weak and feeble, and for a hundred years it was 
in great danger of being made a mere province of England. 
Then a peasant girl came to the rescue, the immortal Joan 
of Arc, and France took its due place among the nations. 
This you have read, and we may briefly go over the remainder 
of its story in mediaeval times. 

The Descendants of Charlemagne. — You know that it is 
a common thing for a great man to have insignificant sons. 
That was the way with Charlemagne. For nearly two cen- 
turies (814-987) his descendants reigned over France, and 
among them all there was scarcely a man worth speaking of. 
Here are some of their nicknames to show how little the 
people thought of them. Among them were the Good- 
natured, the Bald, the Stammerer, the Simple, and the Idle. 
Not one of them was the Great or the Noble. Men like 
these do not win respect or cause fear and obedience. 

The Power of the Barons. — The great barons of France 
cared little for the power of these weak kings, and each of 
them ruled like a monarch. During this time the sea-rovers 
of the north were invading France, and the people, as the 

368 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 



369 



kings did nothing, looked to the lords to protect them from 
the pirates, fleeing for safety to the castles. This gave new 
power to the feudal barons, and left the king not much more 
than his name and his crown to boast of. 




FRANCE 

in the time of 

HUGH CAPET 



Map op France. 



A New Line of Kings. — Do you ask, what was the end 
of this ? Well, it was very much as when Pepin the Short 
made himself king, and shut up the last of the Merovingian 

24 



370 



MEDIEVAL HISTORY 



kings in a convent. When the last of the Carlovingian kings 
died, Hugh Capet (Kah-pa'), the most powerful of the barons, 
was elected to the throne, and became the first of a new line 
of kings, called the Capetian line. The history of the French 
kings up to this time was remarkable. Both the strong Clovis 
and the strong Charlemagne were followed by a line of weak 
descendants, most of whom were idle and worthless. And 
it may be said that many of the new line of kings were not 
much better. 

The Capetian Dynasty. — Hugh Capet, in fact, had only 
the name of king. He had little of the power. Most of 




Starving Peasants fighting the Dogs for Bones. 

the territory of France was held by the great nobles, and 
even in his own domain some of the nobles scoffed at his 
authority. To show what a shadow the power of the 
kings became, it may be said that while one of the great 
nobles, William of Normandy, was conquering England, 
Philip I., the king, was growing gray in trying to capture a 
castle which stood within sight of Paris. 

The End of the World. — In the year 1000, while Robert, 
son of Hugh Capet, was king, a remarkable state of affairs 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 371 

existed in Europe. That was the date of the millennium, — the 
end of a thousand years after the birth of Christ, — and hosts 
of people believed that it would be the " end of the world." 
They got into a Avild state of fright, all business was neglected, 
terror ruled on all sides, even the fields were not planted, 
and there came on a dreadful famine, followed by a fatal 
pestilence, which caused frightful misery and swept away 
a Vast multitude of people. It was the ignorance, and vice, 
and superstition of the Dark Ages that made such a thing 
possible. Only when the new year dawned did the people 
take new courage and come to their senses again. 

Norman Power in Prance. — One thing that helped to 
keep down the power of the French kings was the authority 
which the Norman kings of England held over great provinces 
in France. Henry II., by marrying Eleanor, the divorced 
wife of Louis VII. of France, won two French provinces, and 
had more power in France than the French king him- 
self. 

Philip Augustus and King John. — In 1180 an able king 
came to the French throne, Philip Augustus, the ablest since 
Charlemagne. It was he who went to the Crusades with 
Richard I. of England. After the wicked and cowardly 
John became King of England he was accused of murdering 
his young nephew Arthur, heir to the province of Brittany 
in France. Philip summoned King John, as his vassal, to 
answer for his crime before the peers of France. When John 
refused to appear, Philip declared that he had forfeited all 
the lands he held in France. These were added to the French 
throne, which now ruled over most of the country. The 
remainder of the story of the conflict between France and 
England has been told in the history of England. We need 
only say here that the end of the Hundred Years 1 War 



372 MEDIAEVAL HISTORY 

left the French kings far more powerful than they had been 
since Charlemagne. 

The Massacre of the Albigenses. — There were some 
important events in French history during this period which 
call for brief mention. When Philip Augustus was king a 
dreadful massacre took place in Languedoc (lang-doc'), in 
southern France, where there was a large body of Christians 
who did not believe in the doctrines of the Church of Rome. 
A crusade was preached against them, and hosts of them were 
slaughtered in the most frightful manner. The king took 
possession of their province and his power now reached to 
the Mediterranean. 

Saint Louis and Philip IV.— Louis IX. (1226-1270), 
known as Saint Louis for his virtue, wisdom, and justice, did 
one good thing for France in founding the " Parliament of 
Paris," a court of justice to enforce equal laws throughout the 
kingdom. Two of the minor Crusades were led by him, and 
he did much to add to the power of France. Another king, 
Philip IV. (1285-1314), did some memorable things. One 
was the conquest of Flanders, the country north of France. 
But he governed it so badly that the brave Flemings rose 
and killed their oppressors and won back their indepen- 
dence. Another thing which Philip did was to put an end 
to the Knights Templars, the famous Order of knighthood 
founded during the Crusades. He had all the Templars in 
France arrested, condemned them for vice and crime, and 
had their grand master and others burned to death. They 
were also suppressed in other countries, and the great and 
proud Order came to an end. 

The Third Estate. — But the great thing done by Philip IV. 
was to call out what is known as the " Third Estate." Up 
to that time all power in France was in the hands of the 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 



373 



king, the nobles, and the clergy, the common people having 
no influence. But Philip got into a bitter contest with Pope 
Boniface VIII., and to win the support of the people he 
permitted them to send delegates to the States-General, a 
national parliament which he had called. This was giving 
a great political right to the French people. The same right 
had been given to the English people thirty-seven years be- 
fore. But while the English people retained this right, the 
French did not, and the Third 
Estate met only a few times 
in their history before the 
memorable year 1789. 

The Valois Line. — The 
Capetian line of kings came to 
an end in 1328 on the death 
of Charles IV., who left no 
son. He was succeeded by 
Philip of Valois (Val-wa/), a 
nephew of Philip IV., and the 
first of the Valois kings. Ed- 
ward III. of England claimed 
the throne as a more direct 
heir, and this led to the ter- 
rible Hundred Years' War, 
which we have described. 

The Reign of Louis XI. — The Hundred Years' War was 
followed by the reign of one of the most famous kings of 
France, Louis XI. (1 461-1483). He was a man of great ability 
in statesmanship, but was cruel and crafty, winning his ends, 
not by force, but by treachery and deceit. It was his pur- 
pose to overthrow feudalism, and make himself the true 
King of France, and this he largely did. The great slaughter 




Louis XI. 



374 



MEDIEVAL HISTORY 



of the nobles in the Hundred Years' War gave him an op- 
portunity to do this, and many of the great feudal provinces 
were brought by him under the control of the crown. 

The Story of Charles the Bold. — The greatest of these 
provinces was Burgundy, which had grown nearly inde- 
pendent. Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, was lord 
also of Holland and Belgium, and thought himself as good a 
king as any in Europe. He was a daring, high-spirited man, 
constantly seeking to increase his dominion, while Louis met 
all his efforts with craft and cunning. At length Louis stirred 
up war between Burgundy and Switzerland, and the brave 
Swiss defeated Charles in three hard-fought battles. In the 
last the proud Duke of Burgundy was killed, his body being 
found in a pool of water by the roadside. That ended the 
contest, and Burgundy was soon added to France. 




Ramparts of City of d'Aigtjes Moetes. 

The Rise of the French People. — Charles VIII. (1483- 
1498), was the last of the Valois line, and his reign may be 
held to close the mediaeval period in France. The King of 
France had now become an absolute monarch, for the States- 
General was rarely called, and then only to carry out the 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 375 

orders of the kings. The great power of the feudal nobles 
was at an end, and the authority of the monarch extended 
over all France. The cities had long been free, and they 
now came under the king's control. Their people were 
protected in their industries and their rights and were ready 
to aid the monarch in his wars. Many of the serfs, also, 
had bought their freedom, and a large middle class had been 
formed. There was still much crime and misery, but the 
power of the law was increasing, and the country was 
growing rich and prosperous* Thus France was emerging 
from a mediaeval into a modern state. 

SPAIN AND THE SARACENS. 

Saracen Spain. — Crossing the southern border of France, 
composed of the rugged Pyrenees Mountains, we find our- 
selves in the realm of Spain, which for centuries had been 
under the rule of the Saracens, and the seat of one of the 
most flourishing kingdoms of that remarkable people. But 
a fragment of the old Gothic race remained in the northwest 
corner of the land, whom the Saracens in vain sought to 
subdue. 

"Winning back the Land. — The Gothic place of refuge 
was in the mountainous district of Austuria, and there they 
not only held their own, but they gradually pushed back the 
invaders and won back part of their old dominion. The war 
was kept up incessantly for centuries, and as new provinces 
were recovered new kingdoms were formed. Chief among 
these small Christian states were Ar'agon and Castile (Kas- 
teeF). The name of Castile came from the line of castles 
which was built along its borders against the Saracens. 

Growth of the Christian Realm. — A great victory against 
the Saracens — or the Moors, as they were now called— ^was 



376 



MEDIEVAL HISTORY 



gained in 1212 at Tolo'so. In this all the Spanish kingdoms 
took part, and from that time on the power of the Moors 
steadily went down. If the little kingdoms had not fought 
with one another, they would have driven out the Moors 
much sooner than they did. As it was, Castile and Aragon 
continued to gain in power, and in 1479 Ferdinand, King of 
Aragon, married Isabella, Queen of Castile, and the two king- 
doms were united. 



^g^l^^^P^" 




Landing of Columbus. 
(From a print of 1590.) 

The Conquest of Granada. — By this time the Moors had 
been driven back till they held only a small dominion in the 
.south of Spain, known as the kingdom of Grana'da. Ferdi- 
nand was determined to drive them out of this and recover 
all Spain. For ten years the war went on. The Moors 
fought with much of their old courage, but city after city was 
lost, and finally Granada, the capital, was besieged by a pow- 
erful army. In 1492 it fell, and the Mohammedan rule in 
Spain was at an end. The Moors were allowed to remain 
in Spain and keep their old war-ships, but under laws which 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 377 

made life very unpleasant to them. In the same year (1492) 
Columbus made his famous voyage to the New World. He 
was sent out by Ferdinand and Isabella, and his success did 
much towards making Spain the leading state in Europe. 

The Kingdom of Portugal. — Ferdinand did not rule over 
the whole peninsula. One of the small kingdoms — once a 
part of Castile— remained independent, under the name of 
Portugal, and it has maintained its freedom, except for a 
short period, from that day to this. It was a land of bold 
navigators, who sailed far down the coast of Africa, and in 
1486 reached the southern end of that continent, a feat 
which had not been performed since the days of old Egypt. 
In 1497 Vas'co da Ga'ma sailed round the Cape of Good 
Hope and made his way to the rich land of India. This 
discovery gave Portugal, for a long time, control of the rich- 
est commerce of the world. 



CHAPTER IV 



GERMANY AND ITALY 



Political Status of Germany. — The history of Germany 
is in many ways a singular one. You know how it was in 
France under Hugh Capet, when he was merely the over- 
ord of the country and the great nobles were in almost 

every way independent rulers. 
In Germany it was very much 
the same, only that the minor 
rulers in that country were still 
more independent. Germany 
had its emperors, but they were 
not born to the throne. They 
were elected by the great lords 
of church and state, so that 
these dignitaries held the balance 
of power. Some of the emperors 
were able and powerful men, but 
wars in Italy kept them from 
using their power in Germany, 
and thus for many centuries the land was divided up into 
small kingdoms and dukedoms. It was not until the time 
of Napoleon that many of these little states were absorbed 
by the larger ones, and not until after 1870 that all those left 
were combined into a true empire. For many centuries 
there were kings and princes and counts and margraves and 
little rulers under other names, and some of the free states 
were so small that a man with seven-league boots could 

378 




A Mediaeval German Fisherman. 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 379 

have easily stepped across them. Thus the political history 
of Germany was different from that of any other country. 

The First German King-. — After Charlemagne died his 
empire was divided up into the kingdoms of Germany, 
France, and Italy. But the descendants of the great emperor 
ruled in Germany for less than a century, and even then 
some of the great dukes were the real rulers. In the year 
911 five of these dukes came together and elected Duke 
Conrad of Franconia as their king. From that time on the 
rulers of Germany were chosen by election. 

Otto the Great and the Holy Roman Empire. — Henry 
the Fowler was the second king, and after him his son Otto 
was chosen, being crowned in 936. Otto I., or Otto the 
Great, was the ablest king Europe had seen since Charle- 
magne. He made himself king of Upper Italy as well as 
of Germany and conquered new territory from Denmark on 
the north and Poland and other countries on the east. 
Then he decided that he would like to have the old title of 
emperor, and got the Pope to crown him, as an earlier pope 
had crowned Charlemagne. From that time on every Ger- 
man emperor was three times crowned, as King of Germany, 
King of Italy, and Emperor of the West. Most of the time 
this was an idle fiction, but it was one which had a 
great influence over the politics of that age, and the Holy 
Roman Empire was a real realm in the minds of the German 
rulers. 

Italy and the Emperors. — One bad thing for Germany 
came from the belief in a Holy Roman Empire. Italy was 
not ready to submit to the rule of these foreign emperors, 
and there was a continual succession of wars, the German 
armies being marched into Italy to put down rebellion, while 
Germany was left to take care of itself. This was one great 



380 



MEDIAEVAL HISTORY 



reason why the emperors never became supreme at home. 
They wasted their strength abroad. And while Germany suf- 
fered much from this, Italy suffered more, for many bloody 
battles were fought on its soil, and all to keep up this foolish 
notion of there being a Holy Roman Empire when there was 
nothing of the kind. 




Maximilian I. crowned by the Pope. 
(From a sixteenth century manuscript.; 



The Emperor and the States. — This was the reason why 
there was really not much important history in Germany for 
centuries. The minor states managed their own affairs, and 
the emperor was often too busy making history in Italy to 
take a very active part in German affairs. So we may run 
very rapidly over the story of the emperors. 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 



381 



The Henries and the Popes. — In time the emperors came 
to have much to do with the election of the popes. Henry 

III. (1039) made himself very busy in this way, and Henry 

IV. (1056) got into a fierce quarrel with Pope Gregory VII. 
over church matters, and had to humble himself to the 
Pope. This story you have read. Henry V. also had dis- 
putes with the popes, and Italy was distracted with the 
quarrels between pope and emperor. 

The Great Imperial Families. — The emperors came from 
several of the great noble houses of Germany. Otto I. and 
several of his family were princes of Saxony. Then came 
a line of Franconian emperors, which included the Henries 
just named. Afterwards the Hohenstaufen family, Dukes 
of Suabia, obtained the title. Later 
on it fell to the House of Haps- 
burg, or the Austrian family, and 
finally for many centuries the title 
- of emperor was confined to the 
Austrian monarchs. The ruler of 
Austria is still called emperor, 
though he no longer claims to be 
"Emperor of the West." 

Frederick Barbarossa. — The 
most famous of the Hohenstaufen 
emperors was Frederick I., called 
Frederick Barbarossa from his red 
beard. He was crowned emperor in 

1155, and spent much time and treasure in trying to conquer 
the cities of Northern Italy. These were fighting for their 
liberty, and in the end they won it and got the right to 
govern themselves. After that Barbarossa went out with the 
Third Crusade, and was drowned while crossing a river in 




Frederick Barbarossa. 



382 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

Asia Minor. When the news came home, the people would 
not believe he was dead. The tradition arose that he was 
asleep in a cavern under one of his castles, and that, when 
the ravens ceased to circle round the hill on which it stood, 
the great emperor would come forth again to make Germany 
united and strong. You may judge from this wild fancy 
that the Germans of that time were an ignorant and super- 
stitious people. 

Frederick II. — Henry VI., the next emperor, kept up the 
wars in Italy and conquered Sicily, and his son, Frederick 
II., though he was crowned emperor, spent his life in Sicily, 
only visiting Germany once in thirty years. He was a 
learned and able man, who surrounded himself with poets, 
artists, and learned men, and could speak six languages. 
He led a crusade to Palestine and took Jerusalem, but much 
of his life was spent in quarrels with the popes and he was 
twice excommunicated. He died in the midst of these 

struggles. 

SWITZERLAND. 

A Multitude of Free States. — During the wars of the 
emperors and their long absences in Italy, the princes and 
nobles grew more and more independent, and at the close 
of the Hohenstaufen period there were in Germany no less 
than two hundred and seventy-six states, large and small, 
over none of which, except his own, the emperor had much 
control. It had come about by this time that only seven 
princes took part in the election of the emperor, and were 
known as electors. Four of these were secular rulers, and 
three were powerful churchmen who ruled over great 
estates. 

The Freedom of the Swiss. — Among the provinces under 
the emperor w r as the mountain land of Switzerland. The 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 383 

people of that country had never been the kind to look on 
any man as their master, and while they called the emperor 
their ruler, they did not trouble themselves very much to 
obey him. Of the various divisions of Germany, Austria 
lay nearest to Switzerland, and at length the dukes of that 
country thought they would like to lord it over the moun- 
tain land. So they tried to conquer the brave mountaineers. 
The Swiss "War with Austria. — In the first part of this 
quarrel appeared the famous Swiss hero, William Tell. You 
may have read of how he shot the apple off of his son's 
head with an arrow, and told the haughty Austrian duke 
that he had another arrow ready for him. This story, wise 
men tell us, is all a fable, and the first we really know 
about the quarrel was in 1315, when the Swiss gained a 
great victory over the Austrians at Morgarten Pass. In 
another great victory, at Sempach, in 1386, we are told 
that a noble patriot, Arnold of Win'kelried, caught in his 
arms all of the long Austrian spears he could reach, and 
fell dead as he cried, " Comrades, I will open a road for 
you." Through the road he made the Swiss rushed in, 
and soon put their foes to flight. There were battles after 
that, but finally the Swiss gained complete independence, 
which they still keep, though they own but a little mountain 
land in the midst of great countries. 

ITALY AND ITS CITY-STATES. 

Italy and its Rulers. — Italy had to wait for many cen- 
turies before it had a national government of its own. It 
had kings in its early days, it is true, but it soon became 
divided up and remained so for many centuries. After the 
days of Charlemagne Italy came under the rule of popes and 
kings, and was claimed by Otto I. as part of the Holy Ro- 



384 MEDIAEVAL HISTORY 

man Empire. This claim gave rise to dreadful wars, which 
raged in that country during several centuries. 

Guelphs and Ghibbelines. — The people of Italy became 
divided into two great factions, which took sides in the fre- 
quent quarrels between the popes and the emperors. These 
were called the Guelphs (Gwelfs) and the Ghibellines (Gib'- 
el-ins), the Guelphs being the friends of Italian independence, 
the Ghibellines the supporters of the emperor. Thus the 
land was divided against itself, and the very cities were 
broken up into hostile camps by the fights of the factions. 
It was on account of these quarrels that Dan'te, the great 
poet, was forced to wander for many years in exile from his 
native and much-loved city of Florence. 




Battering-Ram. 
(From an old manuscript.) 

The States of Italy. — In an earlier chapter we have told 
how the cities of Italy came to be independent states. Some- 
times they worked in harmony, but often they became hos- 
tile rivals and went to war with one another. Thus while 
Germany was divided into a great number of small duke- 
doms and principalities, Italy, in like manner, was divided 
into numerous city-states, which were very much like the 
city-states of ancient Greece. 

The Commerce of Venice. — The two greatest of the in- 
dependent cities were Venice and Florence. Venice, built 
on islands in the sea, was well situated for commerce. Its 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 385 

ships carried the Crusaders to Palestine, and brought back 
the silks and spices and other rich goods of the East. It 
had thriving manufactures also, especially in silk goods and 
glassware, and grew very rich and populous. 

The Greatness of Florence. — Florence was a great manu- 
facturing city, producing silk and woollen goods, jewelry, and 
many kinds of rich wares. Its bankers supplied money to 
Italy, and the gold florin of Florence became the standard 
coin of Europe. Like Venice, it was at first a republic, but 
the Medici (Med'i-che), a family of rich merchants, rose to 
power and were long the lordly rulers of the city. Venice 
also lost its republican government and fell under tyrannical 
oppressors. 

Genoa and Venice. — Of the other city-states, Gen'oa was 
the most important. Its prosperity came from an active 
commerce, and it grew to be the chief rival of Venice. 
There was often war between the two rival cities, and their 
fleets fought fiercely for the control of the Mediterranean. 
When the Turks took Constantinople much of the rich trade 
of these cities was cut off, and after a new path was discov- 
ered around Africa to India the greatness of Venice and 
Genoa disappeared. 

Barbarossa and the Cities. — In the wars of the em- 
perors and the popes the city-states of Italy found it hard 
to preserve their liberty. Frederick Barbaros'sa made a de- 
termined effort to deprive them of their freedom. Five 
times he crossed the Alps with powerful armies, leaving 
Germany to take care of itself while he tried to subdue to 
his will the proud citizens of Italy. For a time he had the 
best of it. Mil'an, which had defied him, was taken and 
razed to the ground, a ruin being left where a splendid city 
had stood. 

25 



386 MEDIJEVAL HISTORY 

The League of Lombardy. — In 1167 the cities of Lom- 
bardy formed a league against the emperor, and after nine 
years more of conflict they gained a great victory over 
Frederick and his army on the field of Legnano (Len- 
yah'no). After that Frederick made peace and left to the 
cities of Italy the right to govern themselves. 

Rienza the Tribune. — Here we must speak of an inter- 
esting attempt to make a nation out of Italy and bring back 
some of the glory of old Rome. This was in 1347, when the 
popes had removed to Avignon (A-ven-yon'), France, and 
when the nobles of Rome were acting as petty tyrants and 
keeping the city in turmoil and dread by their quarrels and 
lights in the streets. At this time one of the common people, 
named Rien'za, stirred up the citizens against the nobles, and 
a new government was formed, he being chosen Tribune of 
Rome. 

A Dream of United Italy. — After that Rienza tried to 
combine all the little states of Italy into one nation, and 
patriotic Italians were full of hope. Among these was 
Pe'trarch, the celebrated poet. But Rienza was not the 
man for the great work he had undertaken. His sudden 
rise to dignity turned his head, and he acted so foolishly 
that the people turned against him. In the end he was 
killed. That dispelled the hope of forming a united Italy, 
and many centuries of war and subjection lay before the 
disunited people. 



CHAPTER V 

THE ELEMENTS OF MEDIAEVAL PROGRESS 

End of the Mediaeval Age. — We have now brought the 
history of Europe down to the end of the mediaeval period, 
which, in the view of historians, is held to extend over 
about one thousand years, beginning with the fall of Rome 
in 476 and extending nearly to the year 1500. Some writers 
fix 1453, when the Turks captured Constantinople, as the 
end of this period, but others place it at 1492, when Colum- 
bus discovered America. In fact, the mediaeval period did 
not end at any fixed time, and it is idle to give it a date. 
Change went on very gradually, and in some nations much 
faster than in others. So the dates chosen are only used 
for convenience, not because they signify any special turning- 
point. Some nations were fully civilized while others were 
in the Dark Ages. 

The Mediaeval Periods. — We have divided the mediaeval 
age into two periods, each about five centuries long. In the 
first of these progress seems to have moved very slowly, so 
far as we are able to tell, though we know very little of what 
was going on. In the second period the progress was far 
more rapid, and at the close of mediaeval times the nations 
in the southwest of Europe had greatly advanced in the 
conditions and customs of civilization, and had well-estab- 
lished governments, an abundant literature, polished and 
courteous manners, and active and varied industries ; so 
that, while they were still far from what we call enlighten- 
ment, they may be held to have fully gained the level of the 

387 



388 MEDIAEVAL HISTORY 

people of old Rome, and gone much beyond it in some 
respects. 

Fall of the Eastern Civilizations. — This development 
was confined to western Europe. In eastern Europe and 
Asia, and in northern Africa, in all of which civilization had 
once gained a fine development, the world had gone back- 
ward. The great civilizations which had once existed in 
the south of Asia had been swept away by the hand of war, 
and finally destroyed by the Turks and the Mongols. The 
Saracen civilization, for some centuries very active and 
promising, had largely sunk into decay. The Eastern 
Empire, including the seat of the splendid civilization of 
ancient Greece, was now held by the barbarian Turks. 
Everywhere except in the western half of Europe the 
world was sinking back into barbarism, and the hope of 
the world's future rested largely upon the few countries 
whose history has just been told. 

The "Work of Modern Centuries. — Up to the time which 
we have now reached little had been done towards extend- 
ing the domain of civilization beyond the borders of the 
narrow region described. This was to be the work of the 
next period, the four hundred years to come. In those new 
centuries not only was man to make wonderful progress in 
all the arts and sciences and in all that goes to make him 
great and noble, but was to carry civilization to every 
quarter of the globe, and plant new and flourishing nations 
in continents as yet unknown. Such was the work which 
lay before the nations of Europe when the ships of the dis- 
coverers sailed from Portugal and Columbus set out from 
Spain in quest of a new world. 

The Teutonic Awakening-. — Let us briefly review the in- 
fluences which brought the world to the point it had reached 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 



389 



in 1492. If the German tribes had remained in their wood- 
land home, and had not been brought under the influence 
of Rome, they might to-day have 
been as barbarous as they were 
two thousand years ago. The 
Teutonic people have shown that 
they are the best thinkers and the 
most progressive people of the 
world, but they needed to be 
started on the path of progress, 
and it was the conquest of the 
Roman Empire that started them. 

New Influences on the Con- 
querors. — We have seen how 
quickly the rude Northmen took 
up the polished manners of France 
and developed into the civilized 
Normans who conquered Eng- 
land. It was much the same 
with the wild tribes that con- 
quered the provinces of Rome. 
They settled down among a nu- 
merous population trained in Roman ways and arts and 
speaking the Latin language, and we soon find these rough 
men of the north gaining new forms of speech and taking 
up new habits and customs. 

The "Work of the Church. — One vast change quickly 
took place among them, — they became Christians and gave 
up their old base and rude heathen worship. And the old 
Roman Empire did not all pass away, for the Church of 
Rome was kept alive, with all its old organization and influ- 
ence. As time went on" this church did much towards 




A Saxon Warrior. 



390 MEDIAEVAL HISTORY 

civilizing the conquering tribes. And it formed a grand 
centre for all the learning of the age. The monasteries 
were full of earnest students, and it was from them that the 
seeds of learning were in time planted among the people. 

Aids to Progress. — Another great aid to the progress of the 
people was the influence of the Saracens of Spain. These 
had taken up some of the learning of old Greece, and had 
developed thriving arts and sciences of their own. A third 
aid was the influence of the Eastern Empire. Within the 
walls of Constantinople was preserved much of what had 
made Greece and Rome great and famous, and the influence 
of the arts and the learning of that city slowly made its way 
far to the west. 

Effect of the Crusades. — There was no greater aid to 
civilization than the Crusades. These were full of lessons 
for the people of western Europe. The Crusaders brought 
back a host of new ideas from Constantinople and Palestine, 
and a commerce as active as that of old Rome was started 
by Venice and Genoa and other cities. The Crusades 
definitely carried Europe out of the Dark Ages and brought 
it into the Age of Revival. 

The Church and Chivalry. — By the time the Crusades 
ended Europe was well advanced on the highway of prog- 
ress. It had gained well-founded governments, and the 
.Church had grown very powerful and was exerting a strong 
influence in favor of learning, literature, softness of manners, 
and the brotherhood of mankind. A powerful aid to this 
was the institution of chivalry, which went far to overcome 
the rudeness and cruelty of feudalism. 

New Ideas of the New Times. — The new civilization was 
not a close copy of that of old Rome. Fresh modern ideas 
had grown up. Thus the meetings of the freemen of the 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 



391 



old tribes had developed into the parliaments of the na- 
tions, of which we find the finest example in the Parlia- 
ment of England, which was a grand new development in 
the art of government. A new type of literature had also 
arisen, unlike any that had ever been known before. And 
there was a new order of architecture, the Gothic, which 
there had been nothing like in the ancient world. 




Chateau de Coucy. 
( From a thirteenth century manuscript. ) 

An Age of New Things. — We lay down these few points 
so that you may see that the new nations were not blind 
copyists of the old. They had taken up the civilization they 
found waiting for them, but they had changed and revolu- 
tionized it in many ways, and the new nations which had 
arisen were very different from those of ancient times. 
There was a new idea in government, a new development in 
religion, a new respect for woman, a new literature, a new 
architecture, and the element of newness and freshness in 
many other ways. Such was the outgrowth of the Mediaeval 
Age. 



392 MEDIAEVAL HISTORY 



SUMMARY OF LATER MEDIEVAL HISTORY. 
England. 

Edward the Confessor 1042 

Harold, the last Saxon king 1066 

The Norman invasion 1066 

William the Conqueror 1066 

Feudalism in England ; the Saxon laws preserved. 

William Rufus and his death 1087 

Henry 1 1100 

Stephen 1135 

Henry II 1154 

Henry humbles the barons. Richard Coeur de Lion, 

the Crusader king 1189 

John 1199 

John grants Magna Charta (the Great Charter) to the 

people ' 1215 

Henry III 1216 

Simon de Montfort establishes the Parliament .... 1265 

Edward 1 1272 

Conquest of Wales ; Invasion of Scotland . . 1282, 1294 

Edward II 1307 

Rruce's victory at Rannockburn 1314 

Edward III 1327 

Conquest of Scotland 1333 

Reginning of the Hundred Years' War in France . . . 1340 

Great victories at Crecy and Poitiers 1346, 1356 

The surrender of Calais 1347 

The Rlack Death 1347-1350 

Richard II 1377 

Henry IV ' 1399 

Henry V 1413 

Great victory over the French at Agincourt 1415 

Henry VI 1422 

Henry is proclaimed King of England and France . . 1422 

Joan of Arc raises the siege of Orleans 1429 

The English expelled from France ...... 1429-1451 



THE REVIVAL OF CIVILIZATION 393 

The Wars of the Roses begin 1455 

Edward IV 1461 

Edward V 1483 

Richard III. (assassinates Edward) 1483 

Rattle of Rosworth and death of Richard 1485 

Henry VII 1485 

France. 

The feeble descendants of Charlemagne. Hugh Capet 

seizes the Throne 987 

The end of the world expected 1000 

The kings have little power ; the barons defy them. 

Philip Augustus gains power 1180 

Philip joins the Third Crusade 1189 

Annexes English provinces in France 1204 

The massacre of the Albigenses 1208 

Louis IX. (St. Louis) 1226 

Louis founds the Parliament of Paris 1226 

Leads the Seventh and Eighth Crusades .... 1249, 1270 

Philip IV 1285 

Suppression of the Knights Templars 1307 

Philip VI 1328 

Edward III. of England claims the French throne and 

invades France 1340 

Louis XI 1461 

The contest with feudalism ; Louis and Charles the 

Rold 1465-1477 



Spain. 

The Saracen Conquest 711 

The Goths hold Austuria ; gradually reconquer Spain. 

Victory over the Saracens at Toloso 1212 

Ferdinand and Isabella and the Moorish War 1479 

Conquest of Granada and complete recovery of Spain . 1492 

Founding of Portugal 1139 

Portuguese maritime enterprise 1400-1500 



394 MEDIEVAL HISTORY 

Germany. 

Duke Conrad elected king 911 

Otto the Great 936 

Otto is crowned Emperor of the West 962 

Henry IV 1056 

His contest with Pope Gregory VII 1077 

Conquers Rome ; the Pope in exile 1084 

Frederick Barbarossa 1152 

Frederick is crowned emperor 1155 

Defeated in Lombardy 1176 

Drowned in Asia Minor 1190 

Frederick II 1215 

His contests with the Pope ; leads the Sixth Crusade ; 

enters Jerusalem by treaty and crowns himself king 1229 

Switzerland defeats the Austrians and gains its freedom 1386 

Italy. 

Struggle of the Guelphs and Ghibbelines (adherents of 

pope and emperor) 1290-1400 

Venice a great mart of commerce 1099-1497 

Florence, a famous centre of manufactures and 

art 1200-1530 

Genoa, a rival of Venice in commerce . . . . 1261—1463 
Frederick Barbarossa destroys Milan ; is defeated at 

Legnano 1176 

Rienza the Tribune seeks to unite Italy . 1347 

Fails and is slain 1354 



PART III 

MODERN HISTORY 
SECTION I.— THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 

INTRODUCTION 

Commerce and Discovery. — In the days in which we 
live one of the most powerful agents in the progress of the 
nations is the wonderful activity in geographical discovery 
and commercial enterprise. These agencies are carrying 
civilization to the most remote corners of the globe, bringing 
all people together in harmony, and spreading the products 
of the fields, the mines, and the factories over the whole 
inhabited surface of the earth. For this reason we select 
the period in which discovery grew active and daring, and 
in which commerce began to seek very distant lands, as that 
in which modern history began. 

The Old Travellers. — In mediseval and ancient times com- 
merce was conducted overland or in ships that kept close to 
shore, and discovery was chiefly made by land travellers. 
The most famous of these was Herodotus, the fine old 
Greek writer, who made his way to Egypt and Persia, and 
Marco Polo, who journeyed overland to China in the thir- 
teenth century, and came back with a story of what he had 
seen that filled all Europe with interest and surprise. 

The Northland Discoverers. — But the great discoverers 
of the fifteenth century adopted fresh and bolder plans. 

395 



396 MODERN HISTORY 

They cut loose from the land and sailed away into unknown 
seas, in search, of new realms afar. Centuries earlier the 
Northmen of Europe had shown themselves still bolder, for, 
without compass to guide them and with only their own 
bold hearts to sustain them, they had sailed far into the 
frozen seas, discovering Iceland and Greenland and landing 
on New England's distant shores. But the people of the 
south did not know what the daring sea-rovers had done, 
and the true era of discovery had to wait for a later time. 

The Mariner's Compass. — It seemed of old like a wild 
adventure to sail into seas far from land. It was like being 
lost in a great forest, without knowing in .what way to turn. 
Ships, it is true, had the stars for guides, but there are long 
times when the skies are overclouded and these shining 
guides are lost to sight. But about the year 1400 a new 
guide to ships was brought into use in the mariner's com- 
pass, which always points north, by night or day, in sun- 
shine or cloud, and so tells in what direction to steer. This 
formed a guide which the sailor could always trust, and when 
it came much of the old fear was lost. 

The Seamen of Portugal. — The powers of the magnet 
had been known long before, but only at this time were they 
brought actively into use as a sailor's aid. It was the sea- 
men of Portugal who first used them for new discovery. 
The ships of that country began to sail down the coast of 
Africa, with the hope of passing round that continent and 
reaching the rich land of India, which lay thousands of miles 
to the eastward. 

India reached by Sea. — On went these bold sailors, 
farther and farther to the south, till in 1487 Bartolomeu 
Di'az reached the southern point of land. His ship was so 
tossed about there that he called it the Cape of Storms. But 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 



397 



the King of Portugal gave it the better name of the Cape of 
Good Hope, and sent out a new expedition under Vasco da 
Gama, which rounded the cape and sailed boldly up the 
great eastern ocean, reaching India in 1498. This great feat 
gave Portugal an opening to the rich Indian trade, which be- 
fore, had been carried on by way of the Mediterranean and 
the Red Sea, with aid from overland caravans. 




Keception of Columbus by the Court on his Ketuen from the New World 



Columbus and his Theory. — But the greatest and most 
daring discovery of the age was that made by Christopher 
Columbus. This famous man was born in Genoa, a great 
city for sailors. Columbus knew well what the Portuguese 
were doing, and came to the conclusion that India could be 
reached more easily by sailing west than east. To do this 
he would have to sail into a mighty unknown sea, on which 
no ship had ever ventured, and which the people of that 
time supposed to be the abode of great monsters and ter- 



398 MODERN HISTORY 

rible dangers. But Columbus was sure that the earth was 
round, and that by sailing west he could reach the East. 

Columbus discovers America. — It took him years to get 
any monarch to aid him in his enterprise, but at length 
Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain did so, in the same year 
that they were besieging the Moorish city of Granada. So, 
in 1492, Columbus set sail from the little port of Palos, in 
Spain, and before that year ended he had discovered the 
great continent of America — though he always believed that 
it was India he had reached. 

The Globe is circumnavigated. — Five years later England 
sent out a fleet which discovered the coast of North America, 
and in 1519-1521 the ships of another great navigator, Ma- 
gellan (Ma-jel'lan), sailed round the globe. Thus in about 
thirty years Europe learned far more about the surface of 
the earth than was ever known before, and the path was 
opened for a vast extension of commerce and a wonderful 
era of colonization. 

The Use of Gunpowder. — There were other things in 
this period that helped to bring about great changes and an 
active progress in civilization. One of these was the dis- 
covery of gunpowder. This great agent of destruction was 
now brought actively into use, and soon made great changes 
in the art of war. The heavy armor of the knights became 
of no use, and was cast aside, the foot-soldier with his 
musket taking the place of the knight with his horse and 
spear. This went far to do away with the old-time feudal 
system, and thus gave new power to the king and took away 
from the power of the nobleman. 

The Invention of Printing-. — While this great invention 
was being tried in the art of war, a greater one was made 
in the arts of peace, for the grand art of Printing was dis- 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 



399 



covered. It had been known long before by the Chinese, but 
they did what is known as block-printing, cutting a whole 
page on a single block. The new discovery was to print 
with movable types, each of which formed a single letter. 




Statue of Gutenberg. 



The first book printed in this way was a Latin Bible, issued 
by John Gu'tenberg, of Mentz, in 1456. Before that time 
old books had been copied one by one by hand, with great 
labor, and they were very scarce and dear. Now they 
became very much cheaper and far greater numbers were 
made. Soon there were a hundred readers where there had 
been one before, and learned men became much more 
numerous. There had always been readers and students, 
but they now increased rapidly, and the benefits of education 



400 MODERN HISTORY 

began to make their way down among the common people, 
who had so long been densely ignorant. 

The Revival of Learning. — Another great event of the 
fifteenth century was what is known as the Renaissance 
(reh-na-sans') or the Revival of Learning. Renaissance 
means new birth, and refers* to the new love and study of 
the ancient or classical literature. The greatest thing to 
bring this about was the capture of Constantinople by the 
Turks. A large number of learned Greeks, who had kept 
up their studies of the classical books, now made their way 
to western Europe, where they opened schools and taught 
the philosophy, literature, and art of old Greece. They 
brought many manuscripts of great value with them, and 
this set the learned men of the West on the search for 
hidden treasures of ancient lore. The libraries of monas- 
teries and the secret places of old mansions were diligently 
explored, and many manuscripts of the works of famed 
Roman and Greek authors were found. The ardent study 
of classical literature that followed did much to improve 
men's minds. Europe then had nearly forty universities, 
and multitudes of students were ready to absorb the new 
learning. 

Artists and Authors. — One grand result of the Renais- 
sance was the multitude of great painters, sculptors, poets, 
and prose-writers who now appeared. Italy became a great 
"home of art, its famous artists including such noble names 
as Raphael, Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Correggio, 
Titian, and many others. Painting, sculpture, and archi- 
tecture thrived as they had not done since the old Athenian 
days ; every land had authors of whom it was justly proud, 
and science gave signs of entering upon its great field of 
activity. It was about 1530 that Coper' nicus worked out his 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 401 

new theory of the solar system, which was the starting-point 
in modern astronomy. 

Progress in Industry. — While these developments were 
taking place in art, learning, discovery, and adventure, the 
workingmen of Europe were growing more active and enter- 
prising, and great cities arose which became flourishing 
centres of manufactures, commerce, and wealth. In all 
directions Europe was awakening, and in every field of 
thought and action there was an earnest and promising 
movement. 

Kings growing Absolute. — The monarchs of Europe 
grew in strength and power in accordance with everything 
else. The great power of the feudal nobles was at an end ; 
the kings were coming steadily into new authority, and it 
seemed as if a period of absolute monarchies was near at 
hand. Even in England, where the people had a parliament 
to represent them and to control the money of the realm, 
there was soon to be a struggle of the king for absolute 
rule. 



26 



CHAPTER I 
THE REVOLT AGAINST THE CHURCH OF ROME 

We have called the period of history with which we have 
now to deal the " Era of Religious Wars, 1 ' and with good 
reason, since the quarrels of religious sects was the cause of 
many destructive wars that took place. This the reader will 
see as he goes on. 

The Cause of the Religious Wars. — It is necessary to 
go back to see what brought on these dreadful conflicts, in 
which vast numbers of people were slain, cities were de- 
stroyed, countries were turned into deserts, and many deeds 
of savage cruelty were done. Taken in all, it is one of the 
most terrible stories in the history of the world. 

The Control of Opinion. — The main cause of it all was 
that men could not be made to think alike on religious ques- 
tions. Very long ago, at and before the time that Chris- 
tianity was adopted by Rome, there were many diverse 
opinions and much bad feeling between the different sects. 
But after the fall of Rome the Roman Church became in 
time supreme over all western Europe, and continued so 
for many centuries. Those were the centuries of the Dark 
Ages, when ignorance and superstition existed over all that 
part of Europe except in Saracen Spain, and little thinking 
was done. 

The Rise of Free Thought. — Then came the new age, , 
when men began to think and write, and when the Crusades, 
stirred up men's minds and taught them many new things. 
There were new opinions on many subjects, and some of 
402 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 403 

these, as you may well suppose, were on religion. Men 
arose who said that the priesthood at Rome did not know 
everything about the meaning of the Bible and God's plan 
of salvation, and they began to teach new doctrines, which 
found many followers. 

What heresy meant. — These new religious beliefs were 
called heresy, and those who accepted them were called 
heretics. The Roman priesthood, who were quite sure that 
they had the true and only plan of salvation, and that these 
new doctrines were false and evil, and would lead men to 
eternal woe, determined to put them down. They felt that 
they were the chosen guardians of men's souls, and that if 
this heresy was allowed to go on it might lead the whole 
world to destruction. So they determined to use all the 
force in their power to put an end to it. 

The Albigenses. — The first great heresy took place in the 
south of France, in the country of the Troubadours, about 
1200. Here there was much liberty of thought, and certain 
new religious sects arose known as the Albigenses. The 
Pope, Innocent III., thought these people, with their new 
doctrines, very dangerous to religion, and the King of France 
was called on to lead a crusade against them. We have 
already told how the Albigenses were attacked by cruel 
nobles and brutal soldiers and nearly all killed. The Pope 
had not dreamed of the cruelties these soldiers would 
commit. 

Wycliffe and the Lollards. — More than a hundred years 
passed before another dangerous heresy appeared. In 1324 
there was born in England a religious reformer named Wyc'- 
liffe. He translated the Bible into English, and copies of 
his English Bible were widely spread. Those who read it 
took new beliefs from its texts, and a sect arose called the 



404 MODERN HISTORY 

Lollards. They became very numerous, and made them- 
selves so unpleasant by their excess of zeal that they had 
to be put down by force. But the new doctrines continued 
to be held by many people in England, and the time was to 
come when they would make themselves felt. 

John Huss and his Pate. — The doctrines of Wycliffe 
made their way to Europe, and gained many believers in 
Bohe'mia, a country of eastern Germany. John Huss, a 
priest and professor of Prague, was the leader of the new 
sect. In 1414 the great council of Constance was called, 
which condemned his doctrines as dangerous to the cause 
of religion, and he was burned as a heretic. The next year 
his friend and follower, Jerome of Prague, was burned in 
the same way. 

The Bohemian Religious "War. — After this there was a 
great religious war in Bohemia. The Emperor Sig'ismund 
had sworn to protect John Huss and had broken his oath, 
and the Bohemians rose against him, under a famous gen- 
eral named John Ziska. It was a cruel war, which went on 
for sixteen years, in which Ziska won many victories over 
the emperor's armies. He became blind, but that did not stop 
him from winning victories. In the end the more obstinate 
of the Hussites were nearly all killed, but the moderate 
party gained the right to worship in their own way. 

Causes of a New Revolt. — All we have stated — the rise 
of the Albigenses, the Wycliffites, and the Hussites — took 
place in the mediaeval period. But a much greater and 
more successful outbreak against the authority and the doc- 
trines of the Roman Church was to take place early in the 
modern period. By that time learning had spread widely, 
the printing-press was sending out hosts of books, among 
them many copies of the Bible, and many writers were 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 405 

saying severe things against the Church. Among those 
things, they said that the clergy had grown very corrupt 
and that a great reform was needed. But it was within the 
Church, not outside it, that they looked for reform. The 
man who made the great move for it was a monk of Witten- 
berg, Germany, named Martin Luther. 

The Sale of Indulgences. — When Pope Leo X. came to 
the papal chair he found that nearly all the money of the 
Church had been spent, and, as he needed money very badly 
for various purposes, he took several means to obtain it. 
One of these was by the sale of "indulgences." In the 
Catholic Church, if a man repented of his sins, the clergy 
stood ready to endeavor to redeem him from punishment, if 
he would perform some work of piety or mercy, or aid the 
Church by paying a sum of money. The punishments meant 
were those inflicted by the courts of law, and also the pains 
of Purgatory. They could be remitted only if the repentance 
was sincere. 

Tetzel and his Doing-s. — In Germany a priest named 
Tetzel was made the agent for the sale of indulgences. This 
he, or his sub-agents, did in a way that many deemed very 
improper, and one that the clergy at Rome would not have 
sustained if they had known just what he was doing. Little 
was said by him about the need of repentance, and many 
thought they could purchase full pardon for sin of any kind, 
without troubling themselves to repent. 

The Protest of Luther. — The imprudent zeal of Tetzel 
roused much adverse feeling in Germany, both in and out 
of the Church. Martin Luther, after trying in vain to have 
the work of Tetzel stopped, drew up a paper in which he 
gave many reasons for declaring that the sale of indulgences 
was improper and contrary to Scripture. This he nailed to 



406 MODERN HISTORY 

the door of the church at Wittenberg, and called on' all 
scholars to examine his reasons and see if they could point 
out anything wrong in them. This was in 1517. 

Luther's Strong- Supporters. — Luther's paper was printed 
and spread all over Europe, where it raised a great contro- 
versy. Many agreed with him, and he soon found much 
support in Germany, even among the princes and nobles, 
who were angry at seeing so much money taken out of their 
country to be used in building the great Cathedral of St. 
Peter in Rome — for this was what Leo needed money for. 

Luther and the Pope's Bull. — So far all that Luther had 
done was to denounce this way of raising money. But he 
soon went farther and attacked by his writings the whole 
system of the Roman Catholic Church. Leo X. at first 
looked on this as of no importance, but as it went on and 
grew worse he issued a bull, or papal decree, in which he 
condemned the writings of Luther as impious and heretical. 
Luther retorted by burning the Pope's bull at Wittenberg in 
the presence of a great multitude. 

Luther's Great Friends. — In the three years during 
which this was going on the daring monk had gained a large 
body of friends and followers. One of the earliest and most 
powerful of these was Frederick, Duke of Saxony, but other 
German princes soon followed him in support of what men 
began to call the "Reformation." 

The Emperor Charles V. — At that time Germany had 
one of the greatest and most powerful of its emperors. 
This was Charles V. He began to reign as Charles I. of 
Spain, but he was descended from several royal families, 
and by the death of certain kings he became ruler also of 
Burgundy, Austria, and the Netherlands. Then, in 1519^ 
the Electors of Germany chose him to rule over the Holy 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 407 

Roman Empire, under the title of the Emperor Charles V. 
Thus this Spanish king came to lord it over the greatest 
empire known since the days of Charlemagne. 

Luther before the Diet. — It was on this great potentate 
that the Pope called in his conflict with Martin Luther, asking 
him to punish the heretic monk. The emperor at once 
bade Luther appear before the Diet of Worms, an assembly 
of the princes, nobles, and clergy of Germany, which had 
come together at Worms in 1521 to consider the affairs of 
that country. Luther came, for the emperor had sent him 
a safe-conduct, but he refused to take back a word he had 
said, unless it could be shown that his writings did not 
agree with the Bible. 

The Safety of Luther. — Luther was allowed to leave in 
safety, though the Diet declared him a heretic and an outlaw. 
For fear that he might be followed and taken captive, the Duke 
of Saxony sent out a party of masked horsemen, who seized 
him on his way from the Diet, and carried him to a strong 
mountain castle, where he was kept in secrecy for a year, 
few knowing where he was hidden. 

The New Doctrines spread. — The new doctrines advo- 
cated by Luther spread with the greatest rapidity. Soon they 
were widely extended through Germany and also gained many 
believers in France, Holland, England, and the countries of 
the north of Europe. Those who held them were given 
the name of Protestants, because they protested against the 
old state of the Church. But they became divided in time 
into a large number of sects, as bitter against one another as 
they were against the Church of Rome, and this helped to 
check the movement. 

The Council of Trent and the Inquisition. — Another 
thing which helped to check Protestantism was a great reform 



408 MODERN HISTORY 

in the Catholic Church, which was brought about by the cele- 
brated Council of Trent (1545-1563), and which removed 
the abuses which had been complained of. We should 
speak here also of the Inquisition, a court established by the 
Church of Rome to seek out and punish heresy, and which 
became very active against heretics, large numbers of whom 
were put to death by burning. As a result of what was 
done on both sides, the northern or Teutonic nations of 
Europe became the chief seat of the Protestant faith, while 
the southern or Latin races remained close adherents of the 
Roman Catholic Church. 

The Wars of the Emperor. — Before closing this chapter 
we must return to Charles V., who had promised to put an 
end to heresy. He might have done so if he had not been too 
busy in other ways. He had a series of wars with France, 
in one of which he took Francis I., the French king, prisoner. 
He also had a war with the Sultan of Turkey. It was only 
after these wars that he could attempt to carry out his 
promise to put an end to heresy in Germany. 

The Victory of the Protestants. — A religious war fol- 
lowed that went on for years. At first the emperor was 
successful, but afterwards the fortune of war went against 
him, and in 1552 he was forced to sign a treaty in which the 
Protestants were given the right to worship God as they 
pleased. Thus the religious revolution started by Luther 
won success. 

The Emperor abdicates. — It was not long after this that 
the great emperor, tired of the cares of his great office, re- 
tired from the throne and went to a monastery to spend the 
remainder of his days. He had waged many wars and formed 
many plans, but they all had failed, and he was weary of his 
greatness and anxious for peace and rest. 



CHAPTER II 
PHILIP II. AND THE NETHERLANDS 

The Dominion of Philip II. — When Charles V. withdrew 
from the cares of the throne to spend the rest of his life in 
a monastery cell he left to his son Philip the crown of Spain, 
while his brother Ferdinand became Emperor of Germany. 
At that time, you should bear in mind, Spain was the most 
powerful nation in Europe. After the discovery of America 
by Columbus Spain took possession of the richest parts of 
that great continent, from which there flowed to her a 
steady stream of gold. Portugal was also conquered by 
Philip II., and Spain thus got possession of the rich trade of 
Africa and the East Indies. All this made the new king a 
very powerful monarch. Yet with all his power and wealth, 
he spent his life in a vain effort to retain a small country 
which his father had handed over to him. This was the 
sea-girt land of the Netherlands. 

The Netherlands. — What was then called the Netherlands 
is now divided into the two kingdoms of Belgium and Nether- 
land, the latter being commonly called Holland. These lie 
in what was of old a marshland of the northwest, much of 
which is below the level of the sea. Its inhabitants for cen- 
turies worked like so many ants, building great sea walls to 
keep out the ocean, and in time they turned their marsh 
district into a splendid stretch of farms and orchards, among 
which rose many large and flourishing cities. At the time 
of which we are speaking about three million people dwelt 

• 409 



410 MODERN HISTORY 

in this land, which was one of the busiest and wealthiest 
countries of Europe. It was to become the seat of the 
most cruel and ruthless of wars. 

Protestantism of the Netherlands. — When Luther filled 
Germany with Protestants, great numbers of the people of 
the Netherlands took up the new doctrines. This made the 
Emperor Charles V. very bitter against them. He could not 
keep the Protestant belief from spreading in Germany, but 
he determined to kill it out in the Netherlands, and he tried 
to do so by burning or hanging all who accepted the new 
faith. Even to read the Bible or to talk about religious mat- 
ters was enough to hang a man for. In this way thou- 
sands were put to death, but in spite of it all the number 
of Protestants increased. 

The Inquisition introduced. — Philip II. was worse than 
his father. He was a stern bigot, harsh and cruel, a silent, 
plotting, gloomy fanatic, who said that he would rather kill 
a hundred thousand people than let any of his subjects leave 
the Roman Catholic Church. So under him the burnings and 
hangings in the Netherlands went on worse than ever. The 
Inquisition was introduced into that land, and thousands of 
the people fled from the country to save their lives. 

The Ruin of the Churches. — Things grew so bad at length 
that the people became desperate. The nobles leagued 
together and demanded that the terrible laws should be re- 
pealed, but all the redress they got was to be told that here- 
tics might be hanged instead of being burned. This fairly 
drove the people mad. In 1566 they rose in a perfect frenzy, 
attacked the churches and monasteries in great mobs, de- 
stroyed their images and works of art, and did an endless 
amount of mischief. Hardly a church in all the Netherlands 
escaped. 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 411 

Philip vows Revenge. — When the news of this violent 
outbreak reached the king it threw him into a fury of rage, 
and he swore that the people of the Netherlands should 
pay dearly for what they had done. He sent the Duke of 
Alva, an able but cruel general, with a strong array, to put 
down the insurrection, and for five years (1567-1572) the 
most dreadful and bloodthirsty events took place. On all 
sides men were seized, imprisoned, tortured, and put to 
death, and a perfect carnival of blood spread through the 
devoted country. 

William the Silent. — The whole land might have been 
ruined if a great soldier had not come to its rescue. This 
was the Prince of Orange, a Protestant monarch and a man 
of acts more than of words, so quiet that he became known 
as William the Silent. He led an army from Germany into 
the Netherlands and began a war which continued for 
thirty-seven years. 

William and the Spanish Commanders. — William was 
a very able man, but the Spaniards held all the strongholds, 
and for four years he could do very little, but then he began 
to make his power felt, and Philip found that he had a costly 
war on his hands. He sent to the Netherlands his ablest 
generals, the Duke of Alva, Don John of Austria, the Duke 
of Parma, all men of great fame, but William the Silent 
proved a match for them all, and he well earned the title 
of "The Founder of Dutch Liberties." 

The Spanish Fury. — We cannot go into the frightful 
details of this terrible war, but one of its most dreadful 
events may be told. Philip had entered upon a costly 
enterprise. The gold drained from Peru and Mexico van- 
ished from his treasury, and in 1576 he had no money to 
pay his soldiers. Furious at being left unpaid, the brutal 



412 



MODERN HISTORY 



soldiery broke out in mutiny and marched in bloodthirsty 
rage through Belgium, pillaging every city they came to and 
committing the most dreadful outrages. The rich city of 
Antwerp, at that time one of the leading commercial cities 




The Port op Antwerp in 1520. 
(Prom drawing by Albert Durer.) 

of the world, was utterly ruined, the soldiers slaughtering 
its inhabitants and committing horrible atrocities. Such 
was the awful outbreak known as the " Spanish Fury." 
Antwerp never regained its old supremacy. 

The Dutch Republic. Murder of "William the Silent. — 
This dreadful affair forced the provinces of the Netherlands 
to unite for their mutual defence, and in 1579 the seven 
provinces of the north combined to form the Dutch Repub- 
lic, with William of Orange for its president. Soon after 
that a base and dastardly affair took place. Philip II., in- 
censed at the stern resistance of William to his armies, 
declared him an outlaw, and offered a rich reward to any 
one who would kill him. This murderous offer succeeded. 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 413 

Five attempts were made to kill the prince. Then, on the 
10th of July, 1584, he fell dead before the ballet of an 
assassin. Thus perished one of the noblest characters 
known in all history. 

Liberty of the Netherlands. — But the murder of William 
did not win back the Netherlands to Spain. Prince Maurice, 
William's son, a youth of only seventeen, took his place, 
and showed himself a brave and able soldier. England 
also came to the aid of the Dutch, and later on France 
began war with Spain. The struggle kept on while Philip 
lived, but he died in 1598, and a much weaker king, Philip 
III., took his place. A few more years of war, and then 
Spain gave up the costly and hopeless contest. A treaty 
was made in 1609 which brought the war to an end, but 
Spain was too proud to admit that the small Dutch Republic 
had defeated her, and did not acknowledge its independence 
till forty years later. 

The Effects of the "War. — Thus ended the effort of Spain 
to destroy Protestantism in the Netherlands. It had con- 
tinued for more than half a century, and had been attended 
with some of the most frightful outrages of that age of ter- 
ror. It led to a long and ruinous war, out of which Spain 
came with a vast loss in wealth and importance, while the 
little republic of the north won not only independence but 
riches. During the war the trade and commerce of Holland 
greatly increased. Its ships sailed to all quarters of the 
globe, and it took from Spain and Portugal much of their 
rich colonial trade. It also obtained large colonies of its 
own in the East and came to possess the most powerful 
navy in Europe. 

Philip and the French. — We have told here only a part 
of the story of Philip II. and his wars. He had other wars 



414 MODERN HISTORY 

in which he was more successful. He took up his father's 
war with France, and in this he was helped by England, 
whose queen, Mary, he had married. His armies defeated 
the French in two great battles, and a treaty was made with 
France in which Spain gained great advantages. 

The Progress of the Turks. — Philip's most successful 
war was in another quarter, and may be called a religious 
war, for it was fought to check the progress of the Moham- 
medan Turks. After conquering Constantinople, the Turks 
made efforts to win new territory in Europe, and ravaged 
Hungary with fire and sword. They also sought to make 
themselves masters of the Mediterranean Sea. They had a 

powerful fleet, which pil- 
laged the shores of that in- 
land sea and took thousands 
of Christian captives, who 
were chained to the oars 
of their war-galleys. The 
island of Rhodes was cap- 
l thb EE -mto h Gall^ y O, th E sxx- tured from the Knights of St. 

John, the island of Cyprus 
was taken, and Malta was saved only by the courage of the 
knights who had been driven from Rhodes. All Christian 
Europe was alarmed by the progress of the infidels, and the 
Pope, Pius V., called on the princes for defence. 

The Battle of Lepanto. — Spain and Venice responded. 
An immense fleet was prepared, and Don John of Austria, 
Philip's half-brother, was placed in command. JNo abler 
commander could have been found in all Europe. It was 
in 1571, in the Gulf of Lepanto, on the coast of Greece, 
that the two fleets, Christian and Moslem, met, and here was 
fought one of the greatest naval battles the Mediterranean 




THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 415 

had ever seen. There were more than six hundred ships 
and two hundred thousand men engaged in desperate con- 
flict. When the battle ended the Turkish fleet was nearly 
all destroyed. Don John had won a splendid victory, and 
had the joy of setting free thousands of Christians who were 
found chained to the oars of the Turks. 

The End of the Turkish Invasion. — The battle of Le- 
panto was a memorable one in history. It put an end to 
the conquests of the Turks, which had gone on for many 
centuries. A century later, in 1683, a great Turkish army 
besieged and nearly captured the city of Vienna, but it 
was driven off by the Polish general Sobieski. With this 
victory the progress of the Asiatic invaders of Europe, which 
had continued since history began, came to an end. 

The Revolt of the Moors. — The victory at Lepanto was 
a great thing to Philip's credit, but the same cannot be said 
of his dealings with the Jews and the Moors of Spain. These 
he treated with a shameful and foolish cruelty which did im- 
mense harm to his kingdom. Some chapters back you were 
told how King Ferdinand, after the conquest of Granada, gave 
the Moors the right to keep their old religion. Philip broke 
this pledge. He told them that they should not use their 
old language, that they must give Christian names to their 
children and must send them to Christian schools. The 
Moors rose in rebellion, and there was a destructive war in 
which the armies of Philip put down the rebels with a terri- 
ble severity. So bloody was the conflict that in large dis- 
tricts of Spain nearly all the people were killed and they 
were left like deserts. This took place in 1571, the year of 
the battle of Lepanto. Not many years afterwards Philip III. 
drove all the Moors, more than a half a million in number, 
out of Spain. They were the most skilful and industrious 



416 MODERN HISTORY 

people of the country, and it never recovered from the loss 
of their labor. 

The Invincible Armada. — We have almost finished the 
story of how Philip II. ruined Spain, but there remains the 
most famous event of all, the tale of the " Invincible Ar- 
mada. 1 ' Philip had several reasons for hating and wishing 
to punish England, but the chief one was that it had become 
a hot-bed of Protestantism. He hoped to serve the heretical 
island as he had tried to serve the Netherlands, so he made 
vast and costly preparations for its invasion and conquest. 

Philip's Fleet. — Never had there been seen a fleet of such 
powerful vessels as that which Philip built and sent out. Of 
its one hundred and twenty-nine ships many were of the 
greatest size then known, and they carried three thousand 
cannon and twenty thousand men. In the Netherlands 
were thirty-four thousand veteran troops ready to join in 
the enterprise. In July, 1588, this formidable fleet entered 
the English Channel, going, as Philip fondly hoped, to the 
conquest of the troublesome island. 

The Defeat of the Armada. — But rarely did so great an 
adventure so dismally fail. Thirty British ships sailed out 
to meet the Armada. They were smaller than the un- 
wieldy Spanish ships, which they could outsail easily. For 
a week a running fight was kept up, the light and swift British 
ships darting like hornets around the great war-vessels of 
Spain, and stinging them so sharply that at length they fled 
for shelter to the harbor of Calais. Here the English sent 
in fire-ships at night, burning several vessels and causing 
great alarm. When day broke the British attacked the 
Spaniards fiercely, and handled their ships and guns with 
such skill that the Spaniards again sought safety in flight. 
The "Invincible" fleet had been thoroughly whipped. On 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 417 

its return home it met with dreadful storms, and of the 
great fleet which set out from Lisbon only a wretched third 
returned. 

Sp&in loses its Prestige. — Philip had ruined Spain. He 
had wasted her money and her strength, in the effort to de- 
stroy Protestantism, and had met with nothing but defeat. 
When he came to the throne Spain was the leading country 
of Europe, and it was far the richest, for it had the great 
wealth in gold and silver of America to draw upon. He 
wasted its wealth in his incessant wars, and brought it down 
to a much lower level, and it continued to sink till it became 
only a third- or fourth-rate power. For many generations 
after Philip's reign Spain had no history worth telling. 



27 



CHAPTER III 
HENRY VIII. AND THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 

Henry VII. — You have read how the Wars of the Roses 
ended in the victory of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, 
over Richard III. Henry became king as Henry VII. and 
proved an able monarch. It was in his days that Columbus 
discovered America and the Cabots sailed from England to 
the American continent. He died in 1509 and his son took 
the throne as Henry VIII., the second king of the Tudor 
line. 

A Critical Period. — Henry VIII. came to the throne at a 
critical period. It was the time of the wars of Charles V., 
of Spain and Germany, with Francis I. of France and of the 
great revolt against the Church of Rome caused by the 
teachings of Martin Luther. There were several important 
events in Henry's reign, but the most important of all was 
his conflict with the Church of Rome. 

The Defender of the Faith. — Henry VIII. did not attack 
the papal authority with any idea of "reform." He was 
at first an ardent Catholic, and he wrote so strong a 
treatise against the doctrines of Luther that the Pope gave 
him the title of "Defender of the Faith." Rut it was not 
long before he was himself in conflict with the Pope, and 
this on grounds with which religion had nothing to do. 

Henry seeks a Divorce. — While he was still Prince of 
Wales Henry had married Catharine of Aragon, daughter of 
the famous Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. She had been 
the wife of his brother before him, and, after living with her 

418 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 419 

for eighteen years, he tried to get rid of her, saying that his 
conscience would not permit him to live longer with his 
brother's widow. Most people think the real reason was 
that he had fallen in love with a pretty and lively young 
lady of the court named Anne Boleyn (Bool'en). 

The Fall of Wolsey. — Henry asked the Pope, Clement 
VII., to grant him a divorce from Catharine. The Pope 
hesitated about doing so, for both political and religious 
reasons, and the matter went on for two years without any 
settlement. We must speak here of Cardinal Wolsey, Arch- 
bishop of York, and Henry's trusted and able minister, a 
man of great wealth and power. It was he who had to deal 
with the Pope, but he failed to obtain a decision. Henry 
was a hasty and violent man, and at length he blamed Wol- 
sey for the delay and took from him all his places of wealth 
and dignity. He even had him arrested for high treason. 
This fall from his high estate broke Wolsey's heart, and he 
died saying, " Had I served my God as diligently as I have 
served my king, He would not have given me over in my 
gray hairs." 

Cromwell's Advice. — The minister who took Wolsey's 
place was named Thomas Cromwell, and was a bold and 
daring man. He advised Henry to waste no more time 
dealing with the Pope, but to take the law in his own hands. 
This advice suited the hot-tempered English king. He at 
once secretly married his new lady love, Anne Boleyn, and 
then obtained a divorce from Catharine through the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, whom he had just appointed. 

The Contest with the Pope. — Henry had now broken 
from and defied the authority of Rome, and in. 1534 
Clement declared him excommunicated from the fellowship 
of the Church. Three centuries before this would have 



420 



MODERN HISTORY 



been a terrible blow against a king. We know how such a 
sentence humbled Henry IV. of Germany. But times had 

changed and the English people 
supported their king. Parlia- 
ment went so far as to declare 
that the Pope had no authority 
in England, and to make Henry 
the Supreme Head of the Church 
in that kingdom, with control 
over all the clergy and all the 
Church revenues. Any one 
who denied this new authority 
of the king was to be held guilty 
of high treason. 

Henry as Head, of the 
Church. — Here was a revolu- 
tion in the Church greater than 
that in Germany, for it involved 
a whole kingdom. Henry, the 
new head of the Church in 
England, drew up a creed of 
his own, which he said every- 
body must accept or be pun- 
ished. One thing he did was to 
put an end to the monasteries, 
of which there were many in 
England. They were rich, and 
he wanted their lands and 
money, and made the excuse 
that they were vile and corrupt. 
A Protestant Persecution. — All this violence, as you may 
imagine, stirred up much bitter feeling in England, where 




Clock given by Henry VIII. to 
Anne Boleyn. 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 421 

the great body of the people were Catholics. Some of them 
in the north broke out in rebellion, but the king put them 
down with great severity. Just what Henry believed no one 
knew, for he did not know himself. Now he said one thing 
and now another, and he persecuted Catholics and Protes- 
tants alike. At one time three Catholics who denied that he 
was the true Head of the Church, and three Protestants 
who denied something else, were dragged in the same sled 
to be executed for their crimes. Whatever Henry chose to 
say he believed became the state religion of England. 

Henry and his Wives. — Such was the man to whom 
England owed its new Church. He dealt Avith his wives in 
the same tyrannical way as he did with the religion of his 
people. In three years he got tired of Anne Boleyn and 
had her head cut off on some convenient charge ; and the 
next day he married Jane Seymour, another lady of the 
court. She died the next year, and Henry then married a 
German princess, named Anne of Cleves, whom he had 
never seen. When he saw her he did not like her looks, 
and in a few months he had her divorced on a trifling excuse, 
and married another young woman named Catharine How- 
ard. She was another who did not please him long, for he 
treated her as he had done Anne Boleyn, having her head 
cut off on the charge of improper conduct. One would think 
that Henry must have found it hard to get a new wife after 
all this, but Catharine Parr, widow of Lord Latimer, con- 
sented to marry him. She knew how to humor him, and 
lived with him in some kind of comfort for five years. 
Then, in 1547, Henry himself died, no doubt much to the 
relief of many of his subjects. 

Edward IV. — Henry VIII. left three children, Mary, Eliz- 
abeth, and Edward, the children of his first three wives. 



422 



MODERN HISTORY 



The youngest of these, Edward, succeeded to the throne. 
But he was only nine years old, and died when he was 
fifteen, so he reigned without ruling. Those who managed 
the government were Protestants, and they made new 

changes in the state reli- 
gion. Since then the 
Church of England has 
remained much as they 
left it. 

The Catholic Queen 
Mary. — In 1553 Mary 
came to the throne. She 
was the daughter of Cath- 
arine of Aragon and was 
a fervent Catholic. She 
married the Catholic 
prince Philip, soon to be 
Philip II. of Spain, and 
hastened to bring back 
the Catholic worship in 
England. Parliament was ready to do all she asked, as it 
had done all that Henry had asked. Only one thing it 
refused to do, this being to give back the property of the 
Church, much of which now belonged to members of 
Parliament, who felt like holding on to what they had 
got, without regard to how they obtained it. 

The Protestants persecuted. — As for the new state re- 
ligion of England, it seemed to be at an end. The Protest- 
ants were persecuted, as the Catholics had been, and two or 
three hundred of them were put to death for their belief. 
In those times Catholics and Protestants were much alike in 
persecuting those who did not agree with them in opinion. 




Man-of-War on which Henry VIII. went to 

France in 1520. 

(From drawing by Holbein. ) 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 423 

England under Elizabeth. — Mary died after a reign of 
five years, and Elizabeth, the daughter of Anne Boleyn, be- 
came queen of England. This was in 1558, when she was 
twenty-five years old. She reigned till 1603, and this period 
was one of the greatest in English history. England advanced 
in manufactures, in commerce, in political power, until it rose 
from the position of a second-rate to that of a first-rate 
kingdom. Its ships were seen on all seas, its commerce ex- 
tended to every part of the civilized world, and in many 
other ways it grew great and famous. One of the things that 
made it prominent was the defeat of the Spanish Armada, 
which was looked on as a great triumph for the Protestant 
cause, and did much to destroy the high standing of Spain. 
The Church of England restored. — Elizabeth was a woman 
of strong will, great courage, and excellent judgment. She was 
not troubled much by religious scruples, but she knew that she 
must seek support from the Protestants, for the Catholics were 
opposed to her, for the reason given below, so she restored 
the Church of England and had severe laws passed under 
which many Catholics were put to death. She found Par- 
liament quite as ready to do all she wished as Henry and 
Mary had done. At this time Parliament was not as inde- 
pendent as it became later on. 

Mary, Queen of Scots. — Here we must speak of Mary, 
Queen of Scots, daughter of James V. of Scotland, who the 
Catholics said was the real heir to the English throne. 
They claimed that the marriage of Henry VIII. and Anne 
Boleyn was not legal, and that Elizabeth had no right to the 
throne. Mary was a beautiful and charming girl, who was 
brought up a Catholic and married Francis II., King of 
France. When he died she returned to Scotland, where 
she became queen. 



424 



MODERN HISTORY 




Maey Stuakt, Queen of Scots. 



The Career of a Queen. — At that time there were many 
Protestants in Scotland, who were bitterly opposed to their 

Catholic queen. She acted un- 
wisely in various ways, and 
when her husband, Lord Darn- 
ley, was killed she was thought 
to have had something to do 
with it. So the Scottish lords 
put her in prison and forced 
her to give up the throne to 
her young son James. Soon 
afterwards Mary escaped from 
prison and fled to England, 
where she hoped that Eliza- 
beth would help her. But 
the English queen was afraid of her, and had her confined 
in a strong castle. 

The Fate of the Queen of Scots. — For nineteen years 
Mary remained a prisoner in English castles. During this 
time there were many plots to rescue her and to make her 
queen of England and Scotland both. The Prince of Orange 
was killed by an assassin, and Elizabeth did not know how 
soon she might suffer the same fate. At length, in 1586, a 
plot to murder Elizabeth and put Mary on the throne was 
discovered,* and it was said that Mary was concerned in it. 
She was tried for the crime, and the court said she was 
guilty and worthy of death. Elizabeth hesitated about 
signing the warrant for her execution, but at last it was signed 
and sent, and on a morning in February, 1587, Mary Stuart 
was beheaded in the hall of Fotheringay Castle. Thus ended 
the career of this beautiful and admired woman, whose folly 
and lack of principle were the main causes of her cruel fate. 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 



425 



Later Protestant Persecutions. — Little more need be 
said about the progress of religious change in England. 
Protestantism there, as on the Continent, soon developed 
into many sects, and the Church of England was kept as 




Queen Elizabeth's Coach. 
(Braun " Civitates Orbis Ten-arum," 1572.) 

busy persecuting Protestants as Catholics. Catholics, Puri- 
tans, and Quakers emigrated to America and founded 
colonies there, and in the great civil war, of which we have 
yet to tell, it was the Protestant reformers who dethroned 
and beheaded the king. In Scotland, at a later time, the 
Scotch Covenanters were terribly persecuted, and for a long 
time all sects alike tried to put down those who dared to 
think in a different way from them on the great subject of 
religious belief. 



CHAPTER IV 
THE RELIGIOUS WARS OF FRANCE 

Italy the Prey of Europe. — During the latter part of the 
Middle Ages Italy was the prey of Europe. The emperors 
of Germany ravaged the north, Spain laid hands on the 
south, and France brought war and disaster to the whole 
land. We must give this brief chapter from the history of 
Italy before we deal with the religious wars of France. 

Louis XI. and his Son. — In a previous chapter you have 
been told of the famous King Louis XL, and how he made 
himself master of all France. Now we must deal with the 
kings who followed him. Charles VIIL, his son, had no 
great nobles to deal with, so he thought he would go abroad 
and make himself as great and famous as Alexander or 
Charlemagne. 

Charles VIIL in Italy. — At that time Spain held the king- 
dom of Naples, in the south of Italy. Charles said he had 
a better claim to it than Spain, and he led a strong army 
into Italy, some of whose strongest cities opened their gates 
to him. When he entered Naples he fancied he had con- 
quered the country, and gave himself up to feasts and tour- 
naments while Spain, Germany, and the Pope were forming 
a league against him. So the ambitious Charles had to get 
out of Italy faster than he had entered it, and was glad 
enough to escape with his army from the scene of his vic- 
tories. 

Louis XII. and his "Wars. — His son, Louis XII. , followed 
in his footsteps, and tried to conquer Italy, but after years of 

426 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 427 

war he foind himself beaten on all sides and was glad to 
make peace. All he had to show for his dream of fame was 
an empty treasury, slaughtered soldiers, and desolated lands. 

The Career of Francis I. — The next king was Francis I., 
of whose wars with Charles V. we have already spoken. He 
came to the throne in 1515 and, like his father and grand- 
father, led his armies into Italy and brought more woe to 
that unhappy land. In 1525 he met with a terrible defeat 
from the armies of Charles V. and was taken prisoner and 
held till he paid a costly ransom. 

The Duke of Bourbon. — Now we have to tell about a 
terrible result from the useless wars in Italy. There was a 
great French nobleman, the Duke of Bourbon, Constable of 
France, who felt himself injured by the 1 ig and left France 
to join the armies of Spain. It was } who led the army 
that took Francis prisoner, and in this way he revenged him- 
self on the king. 

Bourbon's Army. — After that was done Bourbon led an 
army into Italy. The teachings of Martin Luther had now 
filled Germany with Protestants, and Bourbon's army was 
largely made up of men of this new faith. It also contained 
many adventurers, men who were little better than savages. 
Furious because they had not been paid, these fierce soldiers 
clamored for spoil, and Bourbon led them to Borne that they 
might pay themselves. They raised ladders and clambered 
over the walls, but their general was killed as he mounted a 
ladder, and his men were left without a leader. 

The Ravage of Rome. — The scene that followed was 
worse than what took place when the Goths and the Vandals 
captured Rome. The furious soldiers poured into the city, 
and held it at their will for seven months, plundering and 
committing every outrage which such a brutal host, with- 



428 



MODERN HISTORY 



out a leader to hold them in check, could think of. The 
Pope, Clement VII., was kept a prisoner and suffered the 
greatest indignities from his Lutheran captors. In all the 
history of Rome it had never suffered so much as it did 
from this " civilized" army. But at length there came a 
fearful plague, which carried off soldiers and Romans alike, 

and of all Bourbon's army 
scarcely five hundred lived to 
carry their spoils from the city. 
Civil "War in Prance. — 
Now we come to the time of 
the civil wars of France, in 
which, instead of invading for- 
eign lands, the French were 
kept busy killing one another 
at home in the cause of what 
they chose to call religion. 

Persecution of Heretics. — 
We have told how, three hun- 
dred years before the time of 
Francis I., a Christian sect 
called the Albigenses, differing 
from the Catholics in faith, 
arose in France and were put 
down with fire and blood. In 
the time of Francis I. a new heresy appeared in the land, 
and was treated in the same dreadful manner. 

John Calvin and his Doctrines. — Luther, as we have 
said, was not the only religious reformer of his time. There 
were others, who taught different doctrines. One of these 
was John Calvin, a Frenchman, who had to flee from 
France, and who made his home at Geneva, in Switzerland, 




The House of Calvin. 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 429 

where he taught doctrines which spread widely in surround- 
ing countries. There were in time large numbers of Cal- 
vinists in France, where they became known as Huguenots 
(hu'ge-nots). 

The Massacre of the Waldenses. — But we must speak 
here of the Walden'ses, a religious sect which had been in 
France ever since the time of the Albigenses. There were 
large numbers of them in Piedmont and Provence in the 
time of Francis I., and he gave enough time from his wars 
with the Emperor Charles V. to send a murderous army 
against these poor villagers. The Huns of old could not 
have been more savage than the army which Francis sent 
among these humble people. Thousands of them were 
killed by the sword. Thousands more were burned alive, 
and their land was left a wilderness. Only a few of them 
remained, hidden in the mountains, to keep their faith alive 
to later times. 

The Calvinists of Prance. — But the Calvinists of France 
would not be dealt with in that way. They were too many 
and too powerful. Many of the nobles took up the new 
faith, and even in the royal palace Calvinistic hymns and 
prayers could be heard. Henry II., the next king, tried to 
get rid of them by persecution, but all he did was to add to 
their number and strength, and in the reigns of his three 
sons — Francis, Charles, and Henry — the new doctrines gave 
rise to long and terrible civil wars. At the time these wars 
began there were in France about four hundred thousand 
Huguenots, as the Protestants were called, many of them 
belonging to the higher classes and the nobility. 

The Chiefs of the Pactions. — Henry II. had married 
an Italian princess, Catherine de Me'dicis, a wily, plotting 
woman, who was the real ruler in France during much of 



430 



MODERN HISTORY 



§^ 



the time her sons were on the throne. The principal Cath- 
olic leaders were Francis, Duke of Guise (Gweez), a famous 
general, and his brother, Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine'. At 

the head of the Huguenots 
were the King of Navarre' 
and the Prince of Conde, 
both of them heirs to the 
French throne, and Gaspard 
de Coligny (Co-len-ye'), Ad- 
miral of France. You may 
see that the greatest men in 
the kingdom were at the 
head of the two factions, and 
the war that followed was as 
much political as it was reli- 
gious. 

The Guises and their 
Enemies. — Francis II., who 
married the beautiful Mary, 
Queen of Scots, was a sickly 
boy of sixteen when he came to the throne, and died in a 
year afterwards. He was under control of the Guises, who 
began to persecute the Huguenots. They, in their turn, 
formed a plot to obtain charge of the young king and put 
him under the control of the Prince of Conde ; but the plot 
was discovered, and the Guises revenged themselves by exe- 
cuting more than a thousand of their enemies. Then Francis 
died and his brother took the crown as Charles IX. 

The Civil Wars. — Charles was then only ten years old, 
and his mother ruled in his name. She tried to please both 
parties, but they hated each other too bitterly to dwell in 
peace, and soon the country was torn by terrible civil wars. 




x 



Catherine de Medicis in her Young 
Days. 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 431 

Before the struggle ended there were no less than eight 
wars, beginning in 1562 and ending in 1628. 

A Story of "Woe. — We cannot tell the long story of 
sieges, battles, conspiracies, treacheries, and murders which 
marked these woful wars. All we have space for is the 
most notorious and dreadful event of all, the terrible Mas- 
sacre of St. Bartholomew. In all the religious wars of 
Europe there was no more frightful example of human 
malignity than this. 

A Royal Marriag-e. — The King of Navarre had been 
killed in battle and his son Henry had taken his place on 
the throne. He was to become a great king and a great 
soldier, but as yet he was only a boy. Peace came between 
the factions, and Catherine de Medicis offered her daughter, 
the Princess Marguerite, in marriage to the young king. 
Henry came to Paris for the wedding, which was to take 
place on August 18, 1572, and numbers of the leading Hu- 
guenots came to witness the ceremony. 

The Attempt to kill Coligny. — Among those who came 
was the Admiral Coligny, who soon won the confidence of 
the weak young King of France. When Catherine saw her 
son under this influence she feared that her own power 
would be lost, and an assassin was engaged to make way 
with the noble admiral. Coligny was shot at and wounded 
in the arm. When the Huguenots heard of this treacherous 
act .they swore revenge, and Catherine, wild with fear, de- 
termined to save herself by destroying her enemies. 

The Massacre of St. Bartholomew. — Catherine formed 
a plot to murder all the Huguenots in Paris. The Guises 
were with her in this dreadful scheme, and the Catholics of 
Paris were secretly informed. By a false tale of a plot of 
the Huguenots to murder him and his family she induced 



432 MODERN HISTORY 

Charles to sign the order for the massacre, and after mid- 
night on St. Bartholomew's Day (August 24, 1572) a bell 
began to toll. This was the signal for the massacre, and 
instantly it began. Lights gleamed, bands of armed men 
filled the streets ; the dreadful cry, "Kill! kill! 1 ' rang out; 




Watching the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. 

Huguenots were cut down on all sides, and a number of 
murderers, led by Guise himself, broke into Coligny's house, 
killed him while at prayer, and flung his dead body into the 
street. For three days and nights the fearful slaughter went 
on ; from three thousand to ten thousand Huguenots are 
estimated to have been killed ; orders to murder were sent 
to other cities of France, and from twenty thousand to thirty 
thousand people fell victims to this infamous decree. 

Henry III. and the Murder of Guise. — King Charles did 
not live long after this terrible affair. Day and night the 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 433 

horrible scenes he had witnessed were before his eyes, and 
he died a victim of remorse. Henry III. followed him on 
the throne in 1574, and throughout his reign of fifteen years 
war desolated the country, the Huguenots fighting for re- 
venge, the Catholics "to extirpate heresy." In the end 
Henry, jealous of the growing power of the Duke of Guise, 
had him killed in the palace, and then fled for protection to 
the Huguenot camp. A few months later he was himself 
killed by a Dominican monk. 

Henry of Navarre. — With the death of Henry III. the 
Valois line of monarchs came to an end. The nearest heir 
to the throne was the Huguenot chief, the gallant Henry of 
Navarre, head of the Bourbon family. But the Catholic 
League were determined that he should not reign, and it 
took five years of war for him to win the crown. The end 
came at the famous battle of Iv'ry, where Henry's white 
plume led his army to a signal victory. Yet before he could 
sit in peace on the throne he was forced to desert the 
Huguenot faith and accept that of the Catholics. He was 
crowned at Paris in 1594. It is not likely that he changed his 
belief, but he pretended to, which answered the purpose. 

Peace and Prosperity. — Now, for the first time in many 
years, an assured peace ruled in France. Henry set himself 
to bring back the prosperity of the country. He restored the 
finances, built public edifices, encouraged manufactures, and 
endowed libraries and schools. In 1598 he issued the cele- 
brated Edict of Nantes, which gave the Huguenots freedom 
of worship in France and the right to hold office, and set 
aside for them many places of refuge, chief among them 
being the strong city of La Rochelle (Ro-shel'). In 1610 
the prosperous reign of Henry IV. came to an end, he being 
slain by an assassin as his predecessor had been. 



434 MODERN HISTORY 

Richelieu and the Huguenots. — We may briefly close the 
story of the religious wars of France. Henry was succeeded 
by his son as Louis XIII., and the new king chose for his 
chief minister Cardinal Richelieu (Rish'e-lu), the most famous 
of statesmen. We shall speak here only of Richelieu's deal- 
ings with the Huguenots. They were too powerful to please 
him, and their chiefs were opposing the king's authority and 
threatening to break up the kingdom and form a government 
of their own. Richelieu led an army against La Rochelle, 
their great stronghold, captured it after a year's siege, and 
levelled its walls to the ground. This, which took place in 
1628, ended the long era of religious wars, which are esti- 
mated to have cost France a million lives and the destruc- 
tion of three or four hundred hamlets and towns. 

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. — The Edict of Nantes 
was sustained by Richelieu, and the Protestants enjoyed 
freedom of worship. Rut in 1685 Louis XIV. revoked this 
famous edict, and a new persecution of the Huguenots began. 
France suffered as much from this as the Huguenots them- 
selves. About three hundred thousand of her most indus- 
trious and skilful inhabitants were driven from the kingdom, 
and some of her most flourishing industries were ruined. 
The Huguenots took their arts and skill to Holland and 
England, which countries warmly welcomed them, and 
many of them emigrated to America. 



CHAPTER V 
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 

A Terrible "War. — We have now to speak of the last and 
most terrible of the religious wars of Europe, the Thirty 
Years' War of Germany, which raged from 1618 to 1648. 
This dread conflict left much of Germany in the condition 
of a wilderness, most of its people slaughtered, some of its 
fairest cities reduced to ashes, and its fertile fields abandoned 
to the dominion of the weed and the bramble. Generations 
of men passed away before the effects of this frightful war 
were removed. 

The Story of a Century. — It was in 1517 that Martin 
Luther nailed to the door of the church in Wittenberg that 
defiance to the Pope that stirred up all Europe and set many 
of the nations at war. In 1618, almost exactly a century 
later, the great struggle in Germany began. There had been 
a religious war there before, when Charles V. tried to put 
down the Protestant princes, and failed. But since then, 
though much bitter feeling had existed, there had been no 
war, and a very large proportion of the people of Germany 
had become Protestants. 

The Bohemians in Rebellion. — The new war began in 
Bohemia, the land where John Huss and Jerome of Prague 
had died for their religion, and where the blind General 
Zisca had fought so valiantly for his faith. This took place 
two centuries before, but the people of Bohemia had not for- 
gotten their old history ; and when Ferdinand, their Catholic 

435 



436 MODERN HISTORY 

king, began to interfere with their churches, they rose in re- 
bellion, threw two of the king's councillors out of the win- 
dows of the palace, and elected a Protestant for their king. 
Frederick V. of the Palatinate, son-in-law of James I. of 
England, was chosen. 

Ferdinand's Triumph and Revenge. — Soon armies were 
in motion, and the two kings of Bohemia were at war. 
Frederick was defeated in his first battle, and Ferdinand 
then set to work to put down the rebellion by force of arms. 
This he did with terrible severity. The Protestants of Bo- 
hemia were so fearfully dealt with that, when Ferdinand's 
work was over, few of them were left in that devoted land. 
Ferdinand had taken a dreadful revenge. 

The Emperor and the Danish King-. — In 1619, the year 
after the war began, Ferdinand was elected Emperor of 
Germany, as Ferdinand II. This gave great alarm to the 
Protestants of Germany, who now found themselves facing 
a powerful enemy. But it was not till 1625 that any of 
them took active part, and then Christian IV., King of Den- 
mark, came forth as the champion of the Protestant cause. 
He had the support of England and Holland. 

Wallenstein's Army and King- Christian's Defeat. — The 
Danish king had as opponent Count Wal'lenstein, one of the 
most noted commanders in Europe. This famous general 
offered to raise an army for the emperor at his own expense, 
if he might support it from the country of the enemy. His 
offer was taken, and thousands of the wildest spirits of 
Germany flocked to his ranks, drawn by the promise of lib- 
erty to plunder. It was an army of bandits, who left a 
desert of woe and wretchedness wherever they passed. 
The Protestants were driven back to right and left, and 
Wallenstein invaded Denmark with one hundred thousand 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 



437 



men, King Christian being forced to flee to the Danish islands 
and sue for peace. This was granted in 1629. 

The Dismissal of "Wallenstein. — Ferdinand had tri- 
umphed. All Germany seemed to lie helpless before him. 




Casting Cannon-Balls. 



He forced the Protestants to restore to the Catholic Church 
the lands and offices of which they had taken possession in 
defiance of their treaty with Charles V. Then he took a step 
which was not to his advantage. He dismissed Wallenstein 
from his service. This great general had made enemies on 
all sides by his pride and haughtiness and the terrible out- 
rages of his army. Catholics and Protestants alike hated 
him, and the complaints were so bitter that Ferdinand felt 
forced to get rid of him. 

G-ustavus Adolphus and his Array. — It was not long 
before the emperor felt the need of Wallenstein, for he had 
a new and great enemy to face. To the north of Germany 
lies the peninsula of Sweden and Norway, then a land of 
Protestants. Gusta'vus Adol'phus, King of Sweden, was one 



438 MODERN HISTORY 

of the ablest soldiers of the age. It was he who came next 
upon the field, and with whom Ferdinand had now to deal. 
Moved by the misfortunes of his fellow-Protestants of Ger- 
many, Gustavus came to their aid in 1630 with a small 
army of sixteen thousand men. But these men were vet- 
eran soldiers, they were splendidly drilled and disciplined, 
and were devoted to their leader. The people of Vienna 
laughed at Gustavus, calling him the " Snow King, 1 ' and 
saying that he would melt away under the southern sun. 
But they soon found that they had to deal with a man who 
knew all about the art of war. By the next summer he had 
taken from the emperor eighty towns and fortresses. 

The Destruction of Magdeburg-. — Ferdinand had dis- 
missed his best general, but there was another, Count Tilly, 
the head of the Holy Catholic League, and a skilled veteran 
in war. To this old and tried soldier he gave the command 
of his armies. In 1631 Tilly laid siege to the city of Mag' de- 
burg, which he soon took by storm and set his bandit 
soldiers loose upon it. For three days they robbed and 
murdered at will, and when they were done the city, with 
thirty thousand of its inhabitants, had perished by fire and 
sword. All was burned except two churches and a few 
hovels, and all Europe heard with horror of the savage 
act. 

G-ustavus and Tilly at Leipsic. — So far the Protestant 
princes had not helped Gustavus, and all his aid came from 
England and France. But the terrible fate of Magdeburg 
filled them with dread, and the King of Saxony now joined 
the Swedish king. Soon afterwards Tilly was brought to 
battle on the plain of Leipsic (Lip'sic) and suffered a terrible 
defeat. Gustavus then pushed southward into the heart of 
Germany, and when Tilly attempted to stop him he was 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 439 

again defeated and received a fatal wound. Ferdinand had 
lost his trusty general. 

Wallenstein again in Command. — The Emperor Ferdi- 
nand was now in serious trouble. He was forced to humble 
himself and ask Count Wallenstein to take command again, 
and this the haughty soldier would not do unless he had 
absolute control. This the emperor gave him, and soon he 
had another army, made up of men many of whom were 
the off-seourings of Europe. But the famous general had 
found his match. In 1632 he met Gustavus on the famous 
battle-field of Liitzen, near Leipsic, and suffered defeat. 

Gustavus dies in Victory. — The Swedes marched to bat- 
tle singing " God is a strong tower, 1 ' and with their great 
commander at their head. The conflict was a terrible one. 
Three times that day the field was lost and won. . At length 
Gustavus fell mortally wounded, but his well-drilled men 
fought on with all their old courage, and that night Wallen- 
stein, beaten in the fray, crept secretly away, leaving his 
colors and cannon behind. 

"Wallenstein killed by an Assassin. — Gustavus, the 
great leader of the Protestants, was dead, but the Swedes 
were triumphant and the war went on. Ferdinand, who 
was afraid of Wallenstein, had him killed by assassins. 
Thus both the great leaders were dead. Ox'enstiern, the 
chancellor of Sweden, was at the head of affairs and had 
good generals under him, and the ruinous struggle continued 
until 1635, when most of the Protestant states made treaties, 
to their own advantage, with the emperor. But there were 
armies still in the field, and the war did not cease for 
thirteen years longer. 

Prance takes Part in the War. — The struggle now be- 
came more a political than a religious war, and France took 



440 MODERN HISTORY 

the most active part in it, coming to the aid of the Swedes. 
Richelieu, the great French minister, wished to weaken the 
emperor and humble Austria, and the Swedish and French 
armies fought together against those of the empire. Hither 
and thither went the hosts of war, fighting when they met 
and leaving ruin wherever they passed. Though Tilly and 
Wallenstein were gone, the dreadful work they had started 
was not at an end. 

The Victories of France. — Ferdinand died, and his son, 
Ferdinand III., became emperor. Richelieu and Louis XIII. 
died, but the new king and minister of France kept up the 
war. The French had two great generals, Conde and 
Turenne', in the field, and won so many victories that it 
seemed as if all the empire would be conquered. Only 
when affairs were in this desperate state did the emperor 
yield to the demands of his enemies and sign a treaty of 
peace. 

Religious Freedom gained. — The peace of Westphalia, 
signed in 1648, brought to an end the religious wars of 
Europe, which had gone on for a century and a quarter. 
From that time forward religious freedom was to exist in 
Germany, Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists being put on 
the same footing. But the freedom was for the princes, not 
for the people. Every prince was given the right to decide 
upon the religion of his state and to banish all who did not 
accept it, allowing them three years in which to emigrate. 
This law sent many emigrants to America. 

Political Changes. — The treaty also made important po- 
litical changes. Holland and Switzerland were declared to 
be independent states. The province of Alsace was given 
to France, and Sweden got a long strip of land on the shore 
of the Baltic Sea. The monarch of Austria was still to 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 441 

have the title of emperor, but nearly all his power was gone 
outside of Austria itself. Such were the political and the 
religious results of the celebrated Treaty of Westphalia. 
Its greatest good was that it put an end to the terrible 
religious wars. 

The Frightful Work of the "War. — Now we must say 
something more about the frightful work done in Germany 
by the Thirty Years' War. When it ended much of Ger- 
many was a ruin. Of its thirty million people only twelve 
million remained. Nearly two-thirds of the population had 
perished amid infinite woe and terror. Many flourishing 
cities were left as "mere shells." In many villages the 
people were gone and only the starving dogs remained. 
Berlin had less than three hundred people left. Everywhere 
one gazed on burnt mansions and ruined hovels. To travel 
through the country was like a journey in a fire-swept wilder- 
ness. Trade and manufactures had almost ceased to exist, 
and learning, literature, the fine arts, and the laws of mo- 
rality had vanished. The power of the emperor was nearly 
at an end, and Germany was a medley of over two hundred 
petty states, each of them aping the ways of great mon- 
archies. For a century Germany had no history worth the 
telling. "The whole land," as Carlyle tells us, "had been 
tortured, torn to pieces, wrecked, and brayed as in a mor- 
tar." Such was the terrible result of the most frightful of 
modern wars. 

SUMMARY OF HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS WARS. 

The German and Dutch Religious Revolt. 

Wycliffe, the English reformer 1324 

John Huss, the Eoheniian, burned 1414 

Ziska and the religious war in Rohemia .... 1418-1434 



442 MODERN HISTORY 

Tetzel and the sale of indulgences 1502-1517 

Luther and his protest 1517 

Charles V. elected emperor 1519 

Luther burns the Pope's bull 1520 

Luther before the Diet at Worms 1521 

The Council of Trent 1545-1563 

Charles V. defeated by the German Protestants .... 1552 

Charles V. abdicates 1552 

Philip II. succeeds to the throne of Spain 1552 

Revolt of the Netherlands 1566 

The Duke of Alva's cruel work 1567-1572 

William of Orange in command in the Netherlands . . 1568 

Defeat of the Turks at Lepanto 1571 

Revolt of the Moors in Spain 1571 

The Spanish fury and the ravage of Antwerp 1576 

The Dutch Republic is founded 1579 

William of Orange is assassinated 1584 

Spain gives up the Netherlands 1609 

The Moors expelled from Spain 1610 

The Religious Revolt in England. 

Henry VIII. succeeds to the throne 1509 

Henry's divorce 1527-1533 

Founds the Church of England 1531 

Excommunicated by the Pope 1534 

Mary, the Catholic queen 1553 

Elizabeth restores the Church of England 1558 

Mary, Queen of Scots, and her fate 1587 

France and its Religious Wars. 

Charles VIII. succeeds . 1483 

His invasion of Italy 1495 

Louis XII 1498 

His wars in Italy 1501 

Francis I. succeeds 1575 

Defeated and taken prisoner by the Emperor Charles V. 1525 

The Duke of Bourbon takes Rome 1527 



THE ERA OF RELIGIOUS WARS 443 

The frightful ravage of Rome 1527 

Massacre of the Waldenses 1545 

Henry II. persecutes the Huguenots 1547 

Francis II. marries Mary, Queen of Scots 1559 

Charles IX 1560 

Massacre of St. Bartholomew 1572 

Henry III 1574 

Murder of the Duke of Guise 1588 

Henry IV. of Navarre, Protestant King of France . . . 1589 

Battle of Ivry 1590 

Henry becomes a Catholic 1596 

The Edict of Nantes 1598 

Henry is assassinated 1610 

Louis XIII 1610 

Richelieu and the Huguenots ; capture of La Rochelle 1628 

Louis XIV 1643 

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes 1685 

The Thirty Years' War in Germany. 

The Bohemians rebel 1618 

Ferdinand of Bohemia elected emperor 1619 

Ferdinand makes war on the Protestants . . . 1619-1637 
King Christian of Denmark heads the Protestant 

League 1625 

Wallenstein invades Denmark and defeats Christian . . 1629 
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden becomes the Protestant 

champion 1630 

Count Tilly destroys Magdeburg 1631 

Tilly defeated at Leipsic by Gustavus 1631 

Gustavus defeats Wallenstein at Liitzen 1632 

Gustavus slain at Liitzen 1632 

France takes part in the war 1635-1648 

The Peace of Westphalia ; religious freedom in Ger- 
many . 1648 



SECTION II.— THE ERA OF POLITICAL 
DEVELOPMENT 



CHAPTER I 

ENGLAND FROM JAMES I. TO GEORGE III. 

James I. becomes King of England. — When Queen 
Elizabeth, the great woman monarch of England, died in 
1603, there were none left of the Tudor family to follow her 
on the throne. Mary, Queen of Scots, would have been 

the next heir to the throne if she 
had lived, for her grandmother 
was a sister of Henry VIII., which 
made her a cousin of Elizabeth. 
As it was, her son, James VI. of 
Scotland, became King of Eng- 
land as James I., and in this way 
the whole island of Great Britain 
was brought under one king. 
The new line of sovereigns was 
called the Stuart line, from the 
family name of the Scotch kings. 
The Divine Right of Kings. 
— James I. was a weak, obsti- 
nate, and conceited man. He had 
read much and thought himself very learned, so that Sully, 
the French statesman, called him " the wisest fool in Eng- 
land." One form of his folly was to believe that the king 
was above all laws. He talked much of the " Divine Ri<mt 
444 & 




Pikeman of Time of James I. 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 



445 



of Kings, 1 ' and tried to prove it by raising money from taxes 
laid by himself. This brought him into dispute with the law- 
makers, and Parliament gave the king to understand that it 
had the sole right of laying taxes, and also other rights which 
it would not let him interfere with. One good thing he did 
was to keep the country free from war, so that it gained 
much in trade and wealth. 

How Charles acted the Tyrant. — James died in 1625, 
and his son took the throne as Charles I. He had as much 
folly as his father, and was quite 
as obstinate, and in his effort to 
establish the " Divine Right of 
Kings" he succeeded in having 
himself driven from the throne 
and his head cut off. This is the 
story which we have next to tell. 
When Parliament would not 
grant Charles money for a useless 
war with Spain, he began, like his 
father, to raise money in illegal 
ways, and the people soon grew 
very angry. Parliament, seeing 
that the new king was trying to 
rob it of its power, and reign 

over the people like the despotic kings of France and Spain, 
passed a Petition of Right which Charles was obliged to sign. 
This forbade him to levy taxes without the consent of Par- 
liament, to imprison any one without trial, or to billet soldiers 
in private houses. 

Charles I. rules without Parliament. — Though Charles 
signed this petition and made it law, he paid little heed to it. 
He dissolved Parliament and said he would never call it 




MUSKETEEE OF TIME OF JAMES I. 



446 MODERN HISTORY 

together again, and he at once began to break the law by 
levying taxes and imprisoning any one who displeased him. 
The next thing he did was to try and make the Scotch peo- 
ple accept the Church of England as their form of religion. 
By these acts he filled both England and Scotland with 
rebels. The Scotch people were so furious that an army 
of them invaded England. The king could not fight them 
without help from Parliament, and he was forced to call it 
together. He did this in 1640, eleven years after he had dis- 
solved the former Parliament. 

The Acts of the New Parliament. — The new Parliament 
would not vote any money until it had brought back the old 
liberties of England. A law was passed saying that there 
should be a Parliament at least every three years, and that it 
could not be adjourned without its own consent. Then it 
had the two great councillors of the king tried for treason and 
executed. After that it dissolved the unjust courts he had 
made. The king grew so angry that in 1642 he attempted 
to arrest five of the leading members of Parliament. This 
stirred up so great a tumult that soon there was war be- 
tween the king and the law-makers. 

Civil War in England. — For six years, until 1648, civil 
war raged in England. The king's followers were called 
Cavaliers. Those of the Parliament were called Roundheads, 
from their fashion of keeping their hair close cut. They were 
Puritans or Independents in religion, and their great leader 
was a Puritan named Oliver Cromwell, the greatest soldier 
and the ablest man of his time. 

The Trial and Execution of the King. — Many battles 
were fought, the final one being at Naseby in 1645. In this 
the king's forces were totally defeated and he was forced to 
flee to Scotland. But the Scotch people hated him and gave 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 



447 



him up to Parliament, and soon he was in the hands of 
Cromwell and his army. The soldiers had no faith in 
Charles, who had deceived the country so often, and who 
quickly showed that he was not to be trusted. So he was 
brought to trial on a charge of treason, before a part of the 
Parliament, all those friendly to him being kept out by force ; 
and on January 27, 1649, he was found guilty and con- 
demned to death as a "tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public 
enemy." Three days afterwards this sentence was carried 
out, the king's head being cut off in view of a great body of 
people. Thus the people of 
England showed that they 
would not submit to tyranny. 

The Commonwealth of 
England. — For eleven years, 
from 1649 to 1660, England 
ceased to be a monarchy. 
It was called a Common- 
wealth. What was left of 
the House of Commons 
acted at first as the ruling 
body, but Cromwell was the 
real ruler, and in 1653 he 
was made the legal ruler, 
with the title of Lord Pro- 
tector of England. 

Cromwell as Lord Protector. — Cromwell was great, 
both as statesman and soldier. He whipped the Scotch 
when they marched against him under Charles, the Prince 
of Wales ; he defeated the Spaniards by land and sea ; he 
fought Holland, and forced from it a treaty of peace ; he 
made England honored and feared abroad, and he became 




Oliver Cromwell. 



448 



MODERN HISTORY 



the protector of the Protestants on the Continent. Then, 
in 1658, he died, having proved himself one of the greatest 
rulers England had ever known. His son succeeded him, 
but he was entirely unfit for the position, and in 1660 Prince 
Charles was invited back, and was proclaimed king, with the 
title of Charles II 




Entey of Chaeles II. INTO London. 



Charles II. and his Habits. — The people of England 
had shown that they would not be ruled over by a tyrant, 
and their new king did not try to act like his father and 
grandfather. In fact, he was so fond of vile pleasures that 
he did not trouble himself much about the government. 
Under Cromwell and his stern Puritans all public amuse- 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 449 

ments had been put down and the most innocent sports 
were forbidden. Under Charles II. the people were wild 
for pleasure, all kinds of revelry and vice went on, and it 
looked as if no honor or virtue was left in the land. 

Religious Persecution. — There was much persecution for 
religion's sake, and Quakers and others who did not believe 
in the Church of England doctrines were treated as crimi- 
nals. In Scotland the Covenanters were hunted like wild 
beasts because they wished to worship God in their own 
way. Under James I. and Charles I. many of the Puritans 
and Catholics had left England for America so as to escape 
persecution, and under Charles II. the Quakers did the same. • 
William Penn made a large settlement of them in Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Plague and Fire in London. — Two great disasters took 
place while Charles II. was king. In 1665 a terrible plague 
broke out in England and raged till a hundred thousand 
people died in London alone, and great numbers in the 
kingdom. The next year a great fire broke out in London 
which burned for three days and left two hundred thousand 
people without a home. 

A Catholic King. — Charles died in 1685, and his brother, 
the Duke of York, succeeded him as James II. He was a 
rigid Catholic in faith, and a man without good sense enough 
to let the people alone in their religion. He did all he could 
to bring back Catholicism. The people bore with him for a 
time, but three years gave them enough of their new king, 
and they wished William, Prince of Orange, to come over 
from Holland and take the throne. 

William of Orange invited to England. — William's 
mother had been Mary Stuart, daughter of Charles I., and 
he had married Mary, daughter of James II., so both he and 

29 



450 



MODERN HISTORY 



his wife were of the royal blood of England. Some of the 
British nobles secretly invited William over, and in 1688 he 
landed with a small army on the coast of England. 

"William and Mary crowned. — When James learned that 
his son-in-law had come to drive him from the throne he 
was wild with fear. He called desperately on the army and 
the people, making promises to be a good king, but when he 




London from the River Early in Seventeenth Century. 



found that the army was going over to William he fled in all 
haste to France, where he lived for the rest of his life on a 
pension from the French king. His throne was declared 
vacant, and William and Mary were proclaimed king and 
queen of England. At the same time a " Bill of Rights 1 ' was 
passed to secure the people from any more acts of tyranny 
by their kings. This was agreed to by the new monarchs, 
and thus ended the "Revolution of 1688." After that no 
more was heard of the " Divine Right of Kings" or of tax- 
ation without consent of Parliament. 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 451 

The War in Ireland. — William III. was weak and sickly, 
but he was a man of noble character and with the genius of 
a statesman. He soon had wars on his hands. The deposed 
King James crossed to Ireland, whose Catholic people flocked 
to his standard. He besieged Londonderry, but its people 
would not surrender, though they were forced by hunger to 
eat rats and mice and chew old shoes and hides. In 1690 
James was utterly defeated at the Battle of the Boyne, and 
fled back to France. William had a war also with Louis 
XIV. of France, which was ended in 1697. He died in 
1702, as a result of a fall from his horse. His wife Mary 
had died eight years before, and the crown now descended 
to her sister Anne. 

Parliament and the Parties. — " Good Queen Anne" the 
people called their new queen. She was kind-hearted, but 
was far better fitted to rule over a household than a king- 
dom. But Parliament was now the practical ruler of the 
country, which could get along very well with a weak king 
or queen. Two great parties had now arisen among the 
English people, the Whigs and the Tories, and the party that 
was in power chose the prime minister, who managed the 
affairs of the nation. There was a great war going on with 
France, and the Whigs were the war party, while the Tories 
were the peace party. 

The Victories of Marlborough. — The war was called the 
War of the Spanish Succession. This was a great fight for 
the throne of Spain, which was claimed by both a French 
and a German prince. England took the side of Germany. 
Her armies were commanded by Maryborough, the greatest 
general of the age. In five years he won four great victo- 
ries over France. Then the Tories came into power, Marl- 
borough was called home, and peace was made with France. 



452 MODERN HISTORY 

The Act of Union. — Another great event of the reign 
of Queen Anne was the union of England and Scotland. 
They had been under one monarch since James I. came to 
the throne, but they were still two nations, with two parlia- 
ments. As there was much ill-feeling between them, a 
Treaty of Union was drawn up and accepted in 1707. This 
made England and Scotland one nation, under the name of 
Great Britain. One would think that Britain would have 
been a better name, without calling a small island "Great, 1 ' 
but the English of that time did not think so. 

An Heir to the Throne. — Queen Anne died in 1714 and 
left England with a vacant throne. All her children, and 
there had been no fewer than seventeen of them, died be- 
fore her, and the country was in want of a king. The near- 
est heir to the throne was James, the son of James II., but 
he was a Catholic, and a law had been passed that no 
Catholic should rule. So Parliament had to go to the small 
kingdom of Hanover, in Germany, in search of a king. 
There reigned George, Elector of Hanover, and grandson of 
Sophia, a sister of Charles I. So George of Hanover was 
asked to come and rule over Great Britain as George I. 

The Reign of George I. — A queer king for England was 
George I. He was a little German, fifty-four years old, who 
could not speak a word of English. He was a man of 
coarse appearance, low tastes, and little education, a dull, 
sullen, obstinate man. But he was truthful and industrious 
and had a strong sense of duty, and, as he cared far more for 
Hanover than for England, he did not meddle with Parlia- 
ment, but left it to rule the country much as it pleased. 
During his reign, James, son of James L, tried to win the 
throne. He came to Scotland in 1715 and some fighting 
took place, but his party was soon defeated and he hurried 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 453 

back to France. He is known as the Old Pretender. There 
was not much else of importance in the reign of George I. 
except a great speculative fever called the South Sea Bubble, 
by which many who hoped to get rich easily were made poor. 

George II. and Walpole. — George I. died in 1727, and 
his son took the throne as George II. He could speak a 
little English, but was as much of a German and as fond of 
Hanover as his father. During much of his reign Robert 
Walpole, the Prime Minister, was the actual ruler of the 
country. He is said to have managed the House of Com- 
mons by bribery, but he was shrewd and skilful and worked 
for peace and liberty, and the country prospered under his 
administration of more than twenty years. 

The Young- Pretender. — There were four wars in the 
reign of George II. Two of these were wars in Spain and 
Austria, which cost money but did not benefit the country. 
In the year 1745 Charles Edward, son of James, the Old 
Pretender, came to Scotland to fight for the throne, but he 
met with a fatal defeat at the battle of Cullo'den. He is 
known in history as the Young Pretender. 

The Seven Years' "War. — The great war of George's reign 
was the Seven Years' War with France. This began in 
America in 1755 between the French and English colonists, 
but it soon spread to Europe and to India. It ended in 
America in the capture of Quebec by General Wolfe and the 
loss by the French of their colonies in America. In India 
the fight was for the control of that country. Robert Clive 
defeated the French and Indians at Plassey in 1757, and in 
this way England became the ruling power in that great and 
populous country. During these wars William Pitt, known 
as the " Great Commoner, 1 ' was prime minister of Great 
Britain, and had more power than the king. 



454 



MODERN HISTORY 



The Sect of Methodists. — An important event' in the 
reign of George III. was the rise of the religious sect known 
as Methodists. John Wesley was its great organizer, but 
associated with him were Charles Wesley, the "Sweet 




The Bellman of London, 1618. 



Singer, 1 ' and George Whitefield (Wit'feld), one of the most 
eloquent of preachers. They were mobbed and stoned and 
exposed to other indignities, but they kept on preaching, and 
ended by giving to England and America one of their strong- 
est and most earnest religious sects. 

George III. and his Ministers. — In 1760 George II. died, 
and his son, George III., became king. He reigned for sixty 
years, the longest reign in English history except that of 
Queen Victoria. He was the first monarch of the House of 
Brunswick (as the line of the Georges was called) who was 
born in England and was English in feeling. " I glory in the 
name of Briton," he said to Parliament. He was a good 
man in his private life, the best of the Georges, but he was 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 455 

not a good king. He was dull, ignorant, and obstinate, and 
would have liked to be a despot if he could. William Pitt 
retired from the ministry when he became king, and a series 
of small men, of the Tory party, took his place. They were 
men whom the king could control, and they helped him to 
bring England into trouble and loss. 

The Loss of the American Colonies. — As the king could 
not tax Englishmen at his will, he tried to do so in America, 
and he so incensed the Americans by his attempts to tax 
them that in ten years he drove them into war. The result 
of this war was the freedom of the American colonies and 
the rise of the great republic of the United States. Before 
the century ended England wag involved in another great 
war, that arising from the French Revolution. An account 
of these wars will be given in later chapters. As for George 
III., we need only say further that he became insane in the 
later years of his life, and from 1810 to 1820 his son ruled 
as regent. 



CHAPTER II 
FRANCE FROM RICHELIEU TO THE REVOLUTION 

Louis XIII. and Richelieu. — We have told how Henry 
IV., the Protestant King of Navarre, who became a Catholic 
King of France, died in 1610 by the dagger of an assassin. 
His son, Louis XIII. , was then only nine years old, so that 
his mother, Marie de Medicis, had to rule as regent. One 
good thing she did for the king and for France. There was 
a young priest named Armand Duplessis de Richelieu, of 
whom she had so high an opinion that she had him raised 
to the dignity of a cardinal, and in 1624 put him into the 
cabinet of the king. From that time on Richelieu was the 
true ruler of France. Louis was a weak man and Riche- 
lieu got complete control over him, and for twenty years 
the king did nothing and the cardinal did everything. 

Prance's Greatest Statesman. — Richelieu was crafty and 
unscrupulous, but he was a man of wonderful ability in 
matters of state. It has been told already how he took La 
Rochelle and put down the power of the Huguenots, and 
also how he helped the Swedes in the Thirty Years 1 War 
and humbled Austria. He also punished the nobles who 
opposed him and had a number of them executed. He 
destroyed their castles and weakened the feudal power, and 
got them to come to Paris and amuse themselves with the 
follies of the court. In that way he increased the power of 
the king and put down that of the nobles. When this great 
statesman died, in 1642, he left France the leading power in 
Europe. 

456 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 457 

Louis XIV. succeeds. — Louis XIII. died soon after Riche- 
lieu, and his son, only five years old, inherited the throne as 
Louis XIV. He was to reign seventy-two years, from 1643 
to 1715, and to become the most powerful and famous 
monarch of the kingdom of France. He also had an able 
minister, Cardinal Mazarin', but he soon became the ruler 
himself, and for many years he kept Europe stirred up by 
his ambition and his wars of conquest. 

The War of the Fronde. — Richelieu's war with Austria 
kept on during this king's boyhood, and there was also a civil 
war by a reform party called the Fronde, who tried to drive 
Mazarin out of office. Mazarin died when Louis was twenty- 
three years of age, and from that time forward he managed 
the affairs of the government himself. 

The New King- rules. — Richelieu had put down the feu- 
dal power of the nobles, so that Louis XIV. was able to 
reign with as absolute power as the old emperors of Rome. 
" I am the state," he said, and no one dared question a word 
that came from his lips. He was not a great soldier or a 
great statesman, like Caesar or Charlemagne, but he had the 
good sense to choose the ablest men as his ministers and to 
let them manage the affairs of war, commerce, and finance. 
And he was shrewd enough to act as if all the success of 
his officers was due to his own genius. In that way he be- 
came looked on as a great man. 

The "Wars of Louis XIV. — Louis wished to shine as a 
mighty conqueror, and so, as we have said, he kept Europe 
in a turmoil of war. There were four great and destructive 
wars during his reign, all due to his ambition, — the war of 
Flanders (1667-1668), the war with Holland (1672-1679), 
the war of the Palatinate (1688-1697), and the war of the 
Spanish Succession (1701-1714). These wars were full of 



458 



MODERN HISTORY 



battles and sieges, marches and countermarches, victories 
and defeats. They went far to ruin both France and the 
countries in which the fighting took place, and did no one 
any good. Their story must be told here very briefly. 




Archers of the Bodyguard. 



The Preparation for War. — To carry on his wars Louis 
got ready great armies, under able generals, and built strong 
fortresses for the defence of his borders, and got together a 
powerful fleet and laid taxes on his people heavy enough to 
crush them into the earth. But what were the people to 
Louis XIV. when his own glory was Ih the scale ! 

The War in Flanders. — Louis had married Maria Theresa, 
daughter of Philip IV. of Spain, and he made this an excuse 
to claim Flanders, which was then held by Spain. He never 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 



459 




wanted more than an excuse. Soon his army was cap- 
turing cities in Flanders. But England, Holland, and Sweden 
joined to stop him and he was 
forced to give up most of the 
places he had taken. The rest 
he fortified and made of them 
strong fortresses. 

The Invasion of Holland. — 
Louis was very angry with Hol- 
land for interfering in this war. 
So he bribed England and Swe- 
den not to interfere, and then 
sent his great army, under his 
best generals, to punish that 
small country for its daring. 
His soldiers were armed with 
the bayonet, a weapon of war 
just come into use, and they 

swept the Dutch before them until they were close to the 
great city of Amsterdam. It looked as if the whole country 
would be taken and added to France. 

The Country flooded. — But the Dutch had a great 
leader, William of Orange, the man who afterwards became 
King of England. He said that it would be better to drown 
the country than let the French have it, so the sluices in the 
great dykes were opened and the waters of the ocean poured 
in, turning Holland into a lake. The French had to march 
in all haste away out of the lowland country. William's 
fleet also fought and beat off the fleets of France and 
England. In this way Holland was saved from conquest. 

A Great Conflict. — The ambition of Louis had now filled 
all Europe with dread. Spain, Austria, and Prussia joined 



Louis XIV. 



460 MODERN HISTORY 

William of Orange in an alliance against France, and for four 
years there was terrible fighting in Holland and elsewhere. 
Then they all got tired of a war which was making their 
countries poor and doing nobody any good, and a treaty of 
peace was made. This treaty gave Louis new provinces and 
cities, and the French people were so proud of their warlike 
king that they began to call him the Grand Monarch. 

The Pride of Louis. — Louis now thought himself the 
great man of Europe, and began to seize cities to which he 
had no claim, and meddle in the affairs of distant lands in 
which he had no concern. The worst thing he did for 
France was to persecute the Huguenots and in this way to 
drive from the country half a million of its best and most 
industrious workmen. 

A Kingly Crime. — That was a great crime, and another 
as great began in 1688, when the king sent his armies into a 
peaceful country, near France, called the Palatinate. His 
generals found they were not able to hold it, so they set to 
work to destroy it. Over forty cities and villages were left 
in ruins. Houses were blown up, orchards and villages cut 
down, and the very ashes of the dead in the cemeteries were 
cast to the winds. 

The Grand Alliance. — This terrible work of a bandit 
army filled all Europe with horror. William of Orange, 
who was now King of England, organized a Grand Alliance 
of the nations of Europe to punish the king who could do 
such deeds of woe, and after years of war Louis w T as forced 
to give up most of his conquests. But he held on to the 
city of Strasburg, which he had seized without right and 
which had been made into a strong fortress. 

"War of the Spanish Succession. — The next war of 
Louis XIV. began in 1701, and was started with the purpose 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 461 

of putting a French prince on the throne of Spain. Another 
great alliance was made against him, and this war went on 
until 1714. Marlborough, England's great general, and 
the famous Prince Eugene commanded the allied armies, 
while the greatest of the French generals had died. So 
the allies won many brilliant victories, and the French 
were driven back on all sides. The people of France 
were suffering from famine and disease, the debt was enor- 
mous, and the proud Louis had to beg for peace. The 
next year he died, after having ruined France by his pride 
and ambition. 

The Splendor of the Court of Louis XIV. — The court 
of Louis XIV. was magnificent and its display was splendid. 
Vast buildings, costly libraries, magnificent palaces, great 
institutions of learning and science added to the glory of 
the Grand Monarch's reign. Literature flourished in France 
as never before, the manners of the court were refined 
and polished, the French language and social customs 
became the courtly fashion for all Europe, and the king 
strutted about as a model of royal dignity. Bolingbroke 
says he was "the best actor of majesty that ever filled a 
throne." 

A Reign of Vice and Extravagance. — But this was all 
empty show to hide a vile court and a ruined nation. The 
government was a complete despotism, vice ruled the court 
under a shadow of virtue, society was corrupt under all its 
display of polite polish, the wars of the reign were great plun- 
dering expeditions, and their failure left France in a terrible 
state. Her industries were ruined. The extravagance of 
the court and the cost of the wars had brought her into a 
state of bankruptcy, with a debt variously estimated at from 
two billion four hundred million to three billion five hundred 



462 MODERN HISTORY 

million francs — an enormons debt for those times. Thus the 
seeds of the terrible French Revolution were sown by France's 
proudest and most famous king. 

Louis XV. succeeds. — We cannot say a word in favor of 
the reign of the next King of France, Louis XV. The reign 
of Louis XIV. had been one of gilded vice ; that of Louis 
XV. was one of open vice. He was the great-grandson of the 
Grand Monarch, whose sons and grandsons had died, and 
he was only five years old when the throne was left to him. 

The Mississippi Bubble. — France was buried in debt and 
had no credit, so an attempt was made to carry on the gov- 
ernment with paper money. This was the scheme of John 
Law, a wild speculator, who got the people to invest their 
money in fanciful mines in Louisiana. Law's plan was called 
the Mississippi Bubble ; it was in the same year as the South 
Sea Bubble in England. When it burst thousands of people 
in France were utterly ruined. They had bought shares at 
vast prices, and hosts of them lost all their money. 

The Reign of Louis XV. — Louis XV. reigned from 1715 
to 1774, and things kept getting worse. He had no love of 
glory, like the last king, but he was fond of base pleasures, 
and the money of the people was spent freely on the most 
costly luxuries and wildest extravagances. There were wars, 
too, which added to the debt. One of them was the war in 
America, by which France lost the vast country of Canada. 
. Louis XV. died in 1774, the year in which the Revolutionary 
Congress met in America. As he lay on his death-bed he 
said, " Apres moi le deluge" — "after me the deluge." That 
deluge came, fifteen years later, in the shape of the French 
Revolution. 

Louis XVI. and his "Wife. — Louis XVI. was the next 
king. He was a kind-hearted, well-meaning young man, 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 463 

with none of the vile habits of his predecessor. But he 
was a man of small brain, and utterly unfit to deal with the 
terrible problems that lay before him. His wife, Marie An- 
toinette, daughter of the Queen of Austria, was a beautiful 




Louis XVI. 

and innocent-minded young woman, but was gay and 
thoughtless, and did many things which made the people 
hate her. They hated her most for being an Austrian. 

A Land laden with Debt. — It was the great debt and 
the poverty and misery of the people that brought on the 
Revolution. France helped America in her Revolutionary 
War, and this led to a war with England that added to 
the debt. Efforts of all kinds were made to raise money, 
but not with much success. The nobility and the clergy, 



464 



MODERN HISTORY 



who owned two-thirds of the land, paid no taxes, so that 
the whole burden of supporting the government and its 
wars fell on the peasantry and the middle classes. 

An Bra of Discontent. — This state of affairs filled the 
country with discontent. Also the people were growing 
tired of being ruled by a despot, who was above all the laws. 
The great writers of the day talked much about liberty and 
the rights of man. Across the English Channel the French 
saw people ruled by men elected by themselves. In Amer- 
ica they saw another nation which had just formed a gov- 
ernment of the people. Why should France be deprived of 
all liberty ? It was this, as much as the burden of debt and 
poverty, that filled the land with indignation. 




The States-General. 



The Assembly of the Notables. — Such were the things 
which brought on the Revolution. In 1787 an Assembly of 
the Notables — the chief nobles and magistrates — was called 
to devise some means of raising money, which was then 
very badly needed. But when there was talk of taxing the 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 465 

land these men, who owned so much of it, would not listen, 
so nothing was done by the Assembly. 

The States-General is called. — There was nothing left 
but to call a meeting of the States-General, — the representa- 
tives of all the people of the land. While the Parliament 
of England met every year, the States-General of France 
had not met for a hundred and seventy-five years. But at 
last not only the nobles and the clergy, but the representa- 
tives of the people, the Third Estate, were to be given a voice 
in the settlement of affairs. All over the land the elections 
went on. Every man who looked respectable was allowed 
to vote;, lawyers, doctors, farmers, priests, and authors were 
elected, and on the 5th of May, 1789, twelve hundred repre- 
sentatives met in the king's palace at Versailles (Ver-sa/yeh). 
It was the first day of the Revolution. 



30 



CHAPTER III 

PRUSSIA AND FREDERICK THE GREAT 

Germany and the Empire. — In the year 1438 Albert, 
Duke of Austria, was elected to the head of the Holy Ro- 
man Empire. From that time on the emperors were chosen 
from the House of Austria. This gave that country much 
power in Germany, and it began to appear as if it would in 
time lord it over all the other states. We have seen what 
power the Emperor Ferdinand II. had in the Thirty Years' 
War. After that war, however, the Holy Roman Empire 
was little more than a name, Germany being broken up into 
a multitude of independent states. One of these was to 
rise into supremacy and become greater than Austria. This 
was the new kingdom of Prussia. 

The Electorate of Brandenburg. — There was an old but 
small state in the north of Germany called Brandenburg, 
the ruler of which was one of the seven princes who had 
the right of electing the emperor. So he was called the 
Elector of Brandenburg. Hk family name was Hohenzol- 
lern, which is that of the present emperors of Germany. 

The Great Elector. — In 1611 another small state called 
-the Duchy of Prussia was united to Brandenburg, and in 
1640 an elector named Frederick William became ruler of 
this united country. He was so able a man that he became 
known as the Great Elector. He added new territory to 
Prussia, he gave it a standing army, he developed his do- 
minion in every way, and he made it so important that, 
in 1701, his son Frederick was given the title of King of 

466 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 467 

Prussia. It was the Emperor of Austria who gave him this 
title and thus raised a duchy into a kingdom. 

Frederick William I. and his Army of Giants. — Fred- 
erick William I., the son of the first Prussian king, was a 
great oddity of a man. He was violent and brutal in tem- 
per, and was full of queer freaks. One of his fancies was 
for big soldiers. He filled his army with the tallest men he 
could find in Europe, some of them eight feet high. He was 
much of a miser with money, but would spend any sum 
to get a giant for his army. When he died he left his son 
Frederick plenty of money and a well-drilled army of over 
eighty thousand men. 

The Boyhood of Frederick II. — This son, Frederick II., 
came to be one of the greatest soldiers of modern times. 
He won such fame on the battle-field that he is known in 
history as Frederick the Great. He had a sad boyhood 
under his stern old father, who kicked and starved him till 
he ran away, and then threatened to hang him as a deserter. 
But the boy played the flute, and wrote letters to Voltaire 
and other great authors, and waited with what patience he 
could till 1740, when his father died and he became king. 

Frederick's Ambition. — Frederick had an ambition to be 
a great soldier, and he found himself with a good army and 
plenty of money to begin with; so, like Louis XIV., he 
looked about for some place where he could use his sol- 
diers to advantage, without troubling himself much about 
right or wrong. 

Frederick seizes Silesia. — In the year that Frederick 
became king, a woman, Maria Theresa, became Queen of 
Austria. Half the kings of Europe at once wanted to 
divide up her country between them, and Frederick began 
the work by sending an army into Silesia, which was part 



468 



MODERN HISTORY 



of her dominions, and taking possession of it. The queen 
fled into Hungary, and asked the nobles there to help her, 
and this they bravely did. But she had France and Bavaria 
and Saxony as well as Prussia to fight with, so she had to 




Statue of Frederick the Great. 



let Frederick keep the province he had stolen, in order to 
save the rest from the other royal robbers. 

The "War for Silesia. — This war lasted eight years. Then 
there were eight years of peace, which Frederick spent 
in drilling and strengthening his army and increasing his 
treasures. But in 1756 the queen began war again, de- 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 469 

termined that he should give up the land of which he had 
robbed her. She had got most of the countries of Europe 
to promise to help her, including France, Russia, Saxony, 
Sweden, and Poland. George II. of England was the only- 
king that supported Frederick. 

Fighting- against Odds. — Then began a great war that 
went on for seven years. No one dreamed that Prussia 
could stand up against such terrible odds, but Frederick was 
one of those men who never know when they are whipped, 
and he fought them all like a wolf driven to bay. 

The Fortune of Frederick the Great. — Frederick was 
very different from Louis XIV. He led his own men to 
battle, and shared with them the toils and hardships, and 
gained the glory of war. He won battles and met with de- 
feats, and in the second year of the war found himself so 
overwhelmed by his foes that he was nearly ready to kill 
himself. But he took heart, dashed at them again, won 
two great battles, and drove the Austrians out of Silesia, 
which he thus captured a second time. 

Three Years of Disaster. — In the fourth year misfortune 
again followed him, and one army of twenty thousand men 
was forced to surrender. But he struggled on desperately 
for three years longer, fighting against a vast force of two 
hundred thousand men, gathered around him on all sides. 
His capital was taken and plundered, his land wasted, his 
army cut to pieces, his money spent, and it looked again as 
if there was nothing for him but surrender or suicide. 

How the "War ended. — Just then the Empress Elizabeth 
of Russia died. Peter III., who succeeded her, was a warm 
friend and admirer of the great Prussian, and at once with- 
drew from the league and sent help to Frederick. This 
caused the other powers to make peace, and Frederick had 



470 MODERN HISTORY 

now only Austria to deal with. The proud Maria Theresa 
could not fight so great a soldier alone, and was forced to 
leave Silesia in Frederick's hands. Peace was made in 
1763, and the great Seven Years' War came to an end. 

What Prussia gained from the War. — Thus ended one 
of the world's most famous wars. It is estimated that it led 
to the death of a- million men. Europe paid bitterly for Fred- 
erick's seizure of Silesia, but he had proved himself a great 
soldier and had raised Prussia from a petty kingdom to 
be one of the five Great Powers of Europe. He spent the 
rest of his life in combating the ruin left by the war and 
bringing back prosperity to Prussia. Everything possible 
was done to revive agriculture and manufactures and com- 
merce, and when Frederick died, in 1786, Prussia was a 
wealthy and contented kingdom. Its population had grown 
from two to over six millions, and the two millions of thalers 
with which his revenue began was increased to seventy-two 
millions of thalers. So Frederick proved himself great in 
peace as well as in war. 



CHAPTER IV 
RUSSIA AND POLAND 

The Great Powers of Europe. — In the last chapter men- 
tion was made of the five Great Powers of Europe. This 
referred to the leading powers during the eighteenth cen- 
tury. Four of these were England, France, Austria, and 
Prussia. Eastward from Prussia — which rose to importance 
in that century — was Russia, the fifth Great Power, of which 
we have next to speak. And between eastern and western 
Europe lay Poland, a large kingdom which had a singular 
and woful fate. To the north lay Sweden and Norway, the 
land of the Northmen, one of whose kings, Gustavus Adol- 
phus, was the great hero of the Thirty Years' War. It had 
another famous king, Charles XII., of whose strange career 
we shall soon speak. 

A Land of Barbarians. — We had good reason for not 
speaking earlier of Russia, for this country long remained 
a land of barbarians, with no history of importance till the 
eighteenth century, when a great king arose who made it 
a powerful nation. So we shall deal very briefly with its 
earlier story. 

The First Russian Kings. — Russia has been called the 
" Land of the Slavs, 1 ' for it was peopled by tribes of the Sla- 
vonian or Slavic race. But in 862, when the Northmen were 
troubling the west by their pirate raids, one of 'their chiefs 
named Ruric sailed east and became king of the Slavonians 
who dwelt on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. He was 
the founder of a long line of Russian kings. 

471 



472 MODERN HISTORY 

The Mongolian Invasion. — Four hundred years later, 
when the Mongol hordes, under Genghis-Khan, were over- 
running Asia and slaughtering its people by millions, a host 
of these savage horsemen poured into Russia, where they 
committed terrible ravages. For more than two centuries 
these Tartar conquerors held Russia in bondage and made 
its princes pay tribute to their great Khan. Then Ivan the 
Great (1462-1505), after a terrible struggle, drove them out 
and set Russia free. 

A Land, cut off from the Sea. — The rulers that fol- 
lowed Ivan extended the territory of Russia until it spread 
widely over the land of the old Slavonic tribes. But the 
Turks and Tartars shut it off from the Black and the Cas- 
pian Seas, the Swedes shut it off from the Baltic Sea, and 
between it and Germany lay the kingdom of Poland. It 
was thus an inland country, and its people and its kings 
alike were no better than barbarians. They had hardly be- 
gun to take part in the history of the world. But in 1672 a 
child was born who was to make Russia a great member of 
the family of nations. 

The Romanoff Dynasty. — The Ruric line of Russian 
kings died out in 1613, and a new family named Romanoff 
came to the throne. The present Czars of Russia are de- 
scendants of this family. The first of this line was Michael 
Romanoff. After him came Alexis the Good, whose son was 
"the boy just spoken of. He was to make Russia a power- 
ful nation and win for himself the title of Peter the Great. 

A Boyish King-. — Peter was only ten years old when his 
father died. At seventeen he made himself fall ruler, and 
at once began to look about him and see how he could add 
to the size and strength of his country. At that time he 
was a tall and powerful youth, rough and half savage in his 



*~ 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 473 

manners, like the people he ruled over, and given to many- 
low vices. But he was brimful of energy and alive to all 
new ideas. He did not care so much for war as he did to 
make his country powerful, prosperous, and civilized, and 
this he set about doing. 

The Projects of Peter of Russia. — The only seaport of 
Russia at that time was Archangel, on the White Sea, where 
the Arctic winter filled the harbor with ice for most of the 
year. Therefore Russia had no ships and no commerce. 
It did not even have a word for fleet in its language. Peter 
saw that his country badly needed an opening to the sea, so 
he sailed down the Don River and attacked the Turkish port 
of Azov, on the Black Sea. He captured this in 1696, and 
thus gave Russia its first open gateway to the ocean. 

A Remarkable Enterprise. — Peter wished also to drive 
back the Swedes and win himself another port on the Baltic 
Sea. But before attempting this he carried out a remarkable 
enterprise which made him famous in Europe. He wanted 
to make Russia a naval power, and there was hardly a man 
in it who had ever seen a ship. So he sent a large number 
of young nobles to the west to learn the naval art, telling 
them not to dare come home until they had made them- 
selves good sailors. Then he left Russia in the care of some 
trusty nobles and followed his young men to the west. 

The Ship Carpenter of Zaandam. — In 1697 a tall, 
rough-mannered young man, plainly dressed, appeared at 
Zaandam, near Amsterdam in Holland, and hired out as a 
laborer to a Dutch ship-builder. He worked away like the 
other hands, boiling his own pot for dinner, mending his own 
clothes, and taking his wages with the others every Satur- 
day night. Though he had disguised himself as a common 
laborer, and went under the name of Peter Zimmermann, it 



474 MODERN HISTORY 

was quickly known that this strange workman was the Czar 
Peter of Russia. The way he made things fly about helped 
to show the slow-moving Dutchmen that he was no com- 
mon workman. 

What Peter learned in Holland. — The new apprentice 
learned much about the ship-building art at Zaandam. 
Then, to get away from the curious crowds that troubled 
him, he went to Amsterdam, where he worked for four 
months on a frigate that was set up and built to please him. 
He also learned in Holland much about blacksmithing and 
cobbling, and enough of the art of surgery to bleed and to 
pull teeth, and got good ideas about many other things that 
had never been heard of in Russia. 

The Czar's Return. — From Holland Peter went to Eng- 
land. Here the king, William III., made him very welcome, 
let him inspect his navy and dock-yards, and got up a sham 
sea-fight with which the Czar was immensely pleased. He 
went to some other countries, but word came to him of a 
rebellion in Russia, so he hastened home to Moscow, the 
Russian capital. Here he made short work of putting down 
the rebel guardsmen, and cut off the heads of twenty of 
them with his own hands. Peter, you may see, had the 
savage instincts of a barbarian, in spite *of his desire for 
civilization. 

Peter the Great as a Reformer. — Peter came home full 
of the idea of reform. He would have liked to turn his 
people into Dutch or Englishmen at once if he could. He 
made the people of Moscow cut off the skirts of their long 
robes, and ordered them also to shave off the long beards 
which it was the fashion to wear. To force them to do this 
he laid a tax on beards. Tailors were placed' at the city 
gates to cut off the skirts and trim the beards of those who 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 



475 



entered, and the terrible Czar did the same thing for the 
people of the court who had not obeyed his order. He 
went after them with a long shears and snipped off their 
skirts and beards. It was not easy to change the fashions 
of a whole people, but it came about in time, and the Rus- 




House op Peter the Great. 



sians began to dress and look like other Europeans. Peter 
did things of more importance, — he built factories, roads, 
and canals, started schools, opened mines, established a 
postal system, issued a new coinage, and made laws based 
on those of the West. 

Russia and Sweden. — One great project he had in his 
mind was to extend Russia to the Baltic Sea, and thus ob- 
tain an outlet to the ocean of the north for the fleet which 
he wished to build. Sweden held that country, but he was 
not much afraid of Sweden, whose king had died three 
years before, leaving his son, a boy of fifteen, to the throne. 

The New Swedish King. — It looked as Jf Sweden would 
be an easy prey, and Peter made a league with Poland and 



476 MODERN HISTORY 

Denmark to conquer that country and divide it between 
them. They did not know the man they had to deal with. 
Charles XII., the new king, was only twenty in 1700, when 
this league was formed, and had displayed such follies as a 
boy that the kingly plotters looked on him as a weak and 
idle fool. They were soon to learn better. 

Charles XII. and his Victories. — Charles was a born 
soldier, with a remarkable genius for war, and this he 
quickly showed. He had the ambition to make himself a 
second Alexander the Great, and with his small but well- 
trained army he began by a fierce attack on the Danes. 
They were so thoroughly beaten that in two weeks the Dan- 
ish king had to beg for peace. Then he defeated the Polish 
army at Riga, and, with a small force of eight thousand 
men, he attacked and utterly defeated a Russian army of 
eighty thousand, taking most of them prisoners. In less than 
a year the "Madman of the North," as men called Charles, 
had effectually broken up the league of his enemies and de- 
feated all its armies. 

Charles conquers Poland. — During the next four years 
Charles was occupied in Poland, which he thoroughly sub- 
dued and forced its king to surrender his crown to a man 
chosen by his conqueror. Europe looked on in amazement 
at the wonderful deeds of this remarkable soldier who had 
been called the "Madman of the North." 

Peter builds a New Capital. — While Charles was busy in 
Poland, the Czar Peter had not been idle. He took the op- 
portunity to make himself master of the Swedish territory 
on the Baltic, and on a marshy island of the River Neva he 
laid the foundations of the great city of St. Petersburg, which 
was to become the new capital of his realm. Thus, while 
his allies had been bitterly chastised, Peter had gained what 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 477 

he set out to win, a port on the Baltic and an opening to the 
great ocean of the west. 

The Ambition of Charles XII. — And now pride and am- 
bition ruined Charles XII., as they have ruined many before 
and since. So wonderful had been his success in war that 
he thought he could conquer the world, and when Peter of- 
fered him terms of peace he sent back the haughty answer 
that he would negotiate only at Moscow. Peter, when he 
heard this, coolly said, " My brother Charles affects to play 
the part of Alexander, but I hope he will not find in me a 
Darius. 1 ' 

The Pultowa Conflict. — Napoleon, in later years, marched 
to Moscow, only to capture a city in flames. Charles had 
even less success. He found that the Russians had de- 
stroyed the roads and turned the country into a desert, and 
he was forced to turn to the south, with his army of forty 
thousand men. Here, in 1709, he besieged the city of 
Pultowa, in which was one of the principal military maga- 
zines of Russia. Peter soon marched south with a large 
army, and Charles, in his haste to meet him, left his cannon 
behind. The result was that, in two hours, his army was 
cut to pieces by the Russian artillery. Charles fled across 
the borders of Turkey with only three hundred followers. 

The Last of Charles XII. — A few words will tell the 
rest of the career of the Swedish conqueror. After spending 
five years in Turkey, he made his way back to Sweden, and 
there, four years later, he was killed by a cannon-ball while 
besieging a town in Norway. He was then only thirty-six 
years old. His career was an instance of a great soldier 
ruined by ambition. 

What Peter did for Russia. — Peter lived seven years 
longer, dying in 1725. He well deserved the title of Great, 



478 MODERN pSTORY 

for he had found Russia a land of barbarians and had lifted 
it to a high place among the civilized nations ; had found it 
without a ship and with a frozen seaport, and had given it 
ports on the Black and Baltic Seas and a strong fleet ; had 
given it commerce, manufactures, schools, hospitals, roads, 
canals, and the printing-press ; had reorganized its army and 
built a new capital, and had changed the manners and cus- 
toms of the Russians from those of Asia to those of Europe. 
Catherine the Great and her Conquests. — Among 
Peter's successors the most famous was a woman, Catherine 
II., or Catherine the Great, who was, as the historian Mc- 
Carthy says, "the greatest woman probably who ever sat 
on a throne, Elizabeth of England not even excepted." It 
was her policy, as it had been that of Peter, to extend the 
limits of Russia, and this she did by capturing the Crimea 
from the Turks, thus putting an end to the last trace of the 
old Tartar rule and giving Russia control of the Black Sea. 
She also gave Russia a wide territory on the west, at the ex- 
pense of Poland. This was by a high-handed act of rob- 
bery, known as the "Partition of Poland, 1 ' of which we 
must next speak. 

THE FATE OF POLAND. 

The Story of Poland. — The history of Poland is a long 
and interesting one, but we must deal with it very briefly 
•here. The Polish nation began very long ago as a country 
of tribes with their chiefs, all of whom in 750 were brought 
under a ruler called a duke. In the year 999 Duke Boleslas, 
a soldier of genius, was given the title of king. Some cen- 
turies later Poland had become a strong and warlike nation, 
upon which Europe depended to keep back the Turks. In 
1674 its king, John Sobieski, marched to Vienna, which was 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 479 

besieged by a great army of Turks, and defeated them so com- 
pletely that they never attempted to invade Central Europe 
again. At that time Poland was a large kingdom, extending 
from the Baltic Sea to the borders of Turkey and occupying 
a wide territory between Russia and Germany. To-day you 
would look for it in vain on the map of Europe, for it has 
utterly disappeared. Let us see how this came about. 

Feudalism in Poland. — Charles XII. in his invasion did 
much to destroy Poland as a great power. But what served 
most to ruin it was its false system of government. The 
feudal system continued in Poland long after the rest of 
Europe had got rid of it. The king had very little power, 
for the Diet, or assembly of feudal lords, made the laws and 
helped to govern the country, but they cared more for their 
own petty aims and ambitions than they did for the good 
of the people. Thus the land was full of disunion and hos- 
tility, with a king who was often powerless to act, while the 
other nations around were growing centralized and strong. 

How Poland was treated. — Catherine of Russia, Fred- 
erick the Great of Prussia, and Maria Theresa of Austria 
saw how weak Poland had become, and proposed to divide 
it up between ihem. No other country interfered, the pa- 
triotic Poles lacked an able leader and were helpless against 
the armies of the imperial robbers, and in 1772 a large sec- 
tion of the old country was divided up between them, Russia 
getting the largest share. 

The Abolition of Poland. — This was done so easily that 
the robbers became eager for more spoil, and in 1793 Rus- 
sia and Prussia found an excuse for sending their armies 
again into the land. The Polish patriots, under Kosciusko 
and others, fought bravely for their country, but they were 
soon put down, and Russia and Prussia once more took large 



480 MODERN HISTORY 






shares of their territory. Two years later the Poles rose 
in insurrection under their great patriot chief Kosciusko. 
This rising was put down in blood by the armies of Russia, 
Prussia, and Austria, and all that remained of the old and 
great kingdom of Poland was divided between them. Po- 
land was swept off the map of Europe. Many insurrections 
followed in the nineteenth century, but they did no good, and 
every trace of the once powerful kingdom of Poland has 
ceased to exist. 



CHAPTER V 

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

The Last Act of the Eighteenth Century. — We have 
now laid before you the outlines of the history of Europe 
till near the close of the eighteenth century. But before 
that century ended one of the most startling and momentous 
events in the history of the world took place, that terrible 
overthrow of the old order of things in France known as 
the French Revolution. In Chapter II. of this section we 
related the events that led up to this mighty outbreak of 
revengeful passion. We have now to tell what followed the 
calling out of the States-General in 1789. 

The Temper of France. — This was by no means the first 
time the States-General had been summoned, but one hun- 
dred and seventy-five years had passed since its last session, 
and in that time the temper of France had greatly changed. 
Like the Parliament which Charles I. of England called in 
1640, this States-General had many questions to ask before 
it would be ready to grant money to the king. For many 
years the hard-won money of the French people had been 
wasted in useless wars and courtly corruption and frivolity, 
and the representatives of the people had now come together 
to make a stern demand for reform. 

The Demand of the Third Estate. — In former meetings 
the nobles, the clergy, and the commons had each cast a 
single vote, so that the privileged classes always held the 
majority. Now the commons, or the Third Estate, as the 
French called it, had as many members as the other two 

31 481 



482 MODERN HISTORY 

bodies together, and they demanded that every member 
should have a vote. They also demanded that all the mem- 
bers should sit together; not in two bodies as in former 
cases. This was bitterly opposed by the nobles and clergy, 
and after weeks of hot debate the Third Estate took a de- 
cisive step. They named themselves the National Assembly, 
and invited the nobles and clergy to join them. If they re- 
fused to do so, the Assembly would act by itself. 

The Victory of the Commons. — The king had called a 
lion to his counsels. He forbade the commons to meet, but 
they came together and took a solemn oath not to part till 
they had given France a constitution. Then the king gave 
way, and the nobles and clergy, much against their will, 
were obliged to join the commons in their hall. The first 
great victory of the people had been won. 

A Carnival of Legislation. — And now a carnival of radi- 
cal legislation arose that stirred all France to its depths. 
The Assembly began to throw overboard from the ship of 
state all its old cargo of feudal claims and oppressions. Laws 
were passed doing away with all special rights and privileges, 
making taxes equal on all, establishing freedom of the press 
and political and religious liberty, with other radical changes. 

The Excitement of Paris. — While the Assembly was 
thus making France a free country, Paris was wild with ex- 
citement. Every new act of the Assembly filled the people 
with wild enthusiasm. There were clubs, meetings, violent 
orations. Mirabeau, the great popular orator of the Assem- 
bly, had his echoes in halls and streets. The whole great 
city was like a mine, ready to explode at a spark. 

The Destruction of the Bastile. — The spark came when 
it was reported that the guns of the Bastile (bas-teeF) were 
to be turned on the people. The Bastile was the famous 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 483 

state's prison into which thousands of prisoners had been 
sent on the mere word of the king, and which was hated as 
the great stronghold of oppression. On hearing this report 
the people rose in arms and marched upon it. A violent 
siege began, in four hours the old fortress was taken, its 
walls were soon razed to the ground, and the people danced 
wildly on the spot where it had stood. This first great act 
of the Revolution took place July 14, 1789. 

The Rapid Course of Events. — From that time on events 
moved with increasing rapidity. A savage mob marched to 
Versailles and forced the king and his family to come to 
Paris. Only Lafayette saved them from being murdered. 
This famous Frenchman, who had served in America under 
Washington, was put at the head of the National Guard, but 
its soldiers were in full sympathy with the people and would 
obey only the National Assembly, which ruled supreme. 
The nobility, fearing that murder would follow the violence 
that prevailed, began to leave France in multitudes, and for 
two years the tide of emigration went steadily on. 

The Plight of the King-. — A plot was formed for the 
royal family to follow the fleeing nobles. On the night of 
June 20, 1791, the king and his family left Paris in disguise, 
and drove hastily away as far as Varennes (Va-ren'). Here 
Louis was recognized, and the party was arrested and taken 
back to Paris. It was the last chance for life and liberty. 
The Assembly now took all power from the king, and his 
life hung in the balance. 

The First French Constitution. — While these exciting 
events were going on, the National Assembly was hard at 
work forming a constitution for France. For centuries its 
government had been a despotism ; now it was to be made 
a constitutional monarchy. Their work was completed in 



484 MODERN HISTORY 

September, 1791. The Assembly, which had been in ses- 
sion more than three years, now dissolved, and was suc- 
ceeded on October 1 by a new body called the Legislative 
Assembly. 

The Pactions of the Assembly. — On went events, grow- 
ing daily more violent and threatening. There were three 
factions in the Assembly, the Monarchists, the Moderate Re- 
publicans, and the Red Republicans, whose cry was, "No 
king," and whose leaders were those men of terror, Robes- 
pierre (Rob'es-peer), Dan'ton, and Marat (Ma-ra/). They 
were chiefs in the two great revolutionary clubs, the Jacobins 
and the Cordeliers, in which the work of the Assembly was 
secretly laid out. In Paris a criminal court was formed, 
which condemned to death all those who were thought to 
be hostile to the Revolution, numbers of whom were put to 
death without mercy. 

War begun against France. — The nations of Europe 
had not looked quietly on this terrible outbreak in France. 
The noble emigrants who poured across the borders formed 
themselves into an army under the Prince de Conde, their 
motto being "Conquer or die!" Later on Austria and 
Prussia declared war against France and sent their armies 
to the rescue of the helpless king. In the spring of 1792 
their forces, more than one hundred thousand strong, 
crossed the frontier and invaded France. It was the first 
step in a great war which was not to reach its end for over 
twenty years. 

The March on Paris and the Massacre of the King's 
Guards. — Victories were gained and the army of invasion 
marched on Paris, its commander threatening to destroy 
that city if any harm were done to the king. When the 
Parisians heard of this they were wild with rage. A fierce 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 



485 



mob gathered, attacked the palace of the Tuileries (Tweel- 
re'), cut to pieces the Swiss guards of the king, and forced 
Louis XVI. and his family to seek safety with the Assembly. 
That was their last of liberty. On August 14 the Assem- 




The Revolutionary Mob op Paris. 

bly sent them to the old Temple prison, which they were to 
leave only for trial and death. 

The September Massacre. — With this act of violence 
and blood the gates of death seemed opened. Scenes of 
violence and massacre went on with race-horse speed. The 
most terrible act of all came on September 2, 1792, when 
news of a Prussian victory reached Paris, driving the popu- 
lace to terror and fury. The frightful resolution was passed 
by the Assembly to destroy the host of royalists confined in 
the prisons. A hundred or more assassins were sent to do 
the work of death, and for three days a horrible butchery 
went on, the prisoners being cut down in such multitudes 
that from six thousand to fourteen thousand are said to have 
been killed. It was the most dreadful crime of all the Revo- 
lution. 



486 MODERN HISTORY 

Prance a Republic. — On September 21, 1792, the Legis- 
lative Assembly dissolved and was reorganized as the Na- 
tional Convention. It at once began its work of legislation 
by abolishing the monarchy of France and proclaiming that 
country a republic. This was on September 22, which was 
made the beginning of a new era, the first day of the Year 1 
of the reign of liberty. 

The Trial and Death of the King. — The armies of France 
now began to win victories and stopped the triumphant 
march of the hostile armies. This gave courage to the Con- 
vention, and the king was taken from the Temple prison 
and put on trial for his life, charged with conspiring against 
the liberties of France and other crimes. There was but one 
end to such a trial before such a tribunal. Louis XVI. was 
condemned to death, and on the 21st of January, 1793, the 
knife of the guillotine put an end to his life. The guillotine 
was a new instrument of death used in the Revolution, con- 
sisting of a frame-work with an opening to confine the neck 
of the victim and a heavy knife which fell and cut off his 
head. Its victims during the Revolution were numbered by 
thousands. 

The League against France. — The news of the king's 
death roused all the countries of Europe against France. 
No less than ten nations leagued against that one country, 
and from England to Russia more than a quarter of a million 
"of men marched upon it. To add to its troubles a rebellion 
broke out at home, for the people of the Vendee, a land of 
royalists in the west, rose against the revolutionists. 

The Reign of Terror. — This vast threat from outside 
only added to the mad violence within. The terrible Reign 
of Terror now began. Throughout the country patriots 
flocked to the ranks, an army of three hundred thousand 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 



487 



men was raised, and the invaders of France were met by 
valiant patriots. In the convention there were now two par- 
ties, the Girondists or Moderates, and the Mountain or Ex- 
tremists. In the fierce struggle between these factions the 
Mountain — supported by the lowest element of Paris — suc- 
ceeded, and the Girondists were seized and sent to the 
guillotine. The Extremists were now in control, with 
Robespierre, Marat, and Danton at their head. 

The Work of the Guillotine. — We shall not tell in detail 
the horrors that followed. Every day hundreds .of victims 
were sent to the guillotine. Their places in the prisons were 
quickly filled by hundreds of others, arrested on the slightest 
charges. The trials were mere farces. To be brought before 
the terrible tribunal meant to be condemned to death.- Few 
of any importance escaped 
the sweeping drag-net of the 
Revolution. The carnival 
of death spread through all 
France, and it is said that 
the total number guillotined 
was more than eighteen 
thousand. 

The Death of the Queen, 
Marat, and. Danton. — 
Among those sent to the fatal 
knife was Marie Antoinette, 
the unhappy queen, who was 
condemned to death in Octo- 
ber, 1793. Before that the despicable Marat had fallen, stabbed 
to the heart by a devoted Norman maiden named Charlotte 
Corday, the Joan of Arc of the Revolution. Her work was 
in vain, and served only to make the Reign of Terror worse. 




488 



MODERN HISTORY 



Robespierre rose to the supreme power in the party of vio- 
lence and sent his comrade Danton to the guillotine. This 
was in the spring of 1794, and for several months, under 
the orders of this monster of crime, the guillotine was kept 
busier than ever. Meanwhile, the revolutionists, in their 
madness, had abolished Christianity and founded what they 
called the Reign of Reason. Sunday was abrogated, a week 
of ten days was established, and other wild acts were done 
in the unbridled Convention. 




Death of Robespierre. 



The Fall of Robespierre. — The Reign of Terror reached 
its end on July 27, 1794. On that day many members of 
the Convention, terrified by the numbers of Robespierre's 
victims, and not knowing how soon their own turn would 
come, rose against him, defied his power, and arrested him 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 489 

and a number of his chief supporters. He tried to kill him- 
self, but failed, and the next day he and his fellows were 
dragged in a rude cart to the death-dealing knife, where they 
suffered the fate to which they had condemned thousands 
of innocent French citizens. 

A Reaction sets in. — The frightful nightmare under wiiich 
France had lain for years was at an end. A reaction set in, 
the prisons were opened and their trembling immates set 
free, the infamous club of the Jacobins was closed, France 
breathed again, and the murderous rabble which had so 
long ruled was driven back to its dens. 

It rose again on October 5, 1795, when the Convention 
passed some measures which offended the extreme revolu- 
tionists. A host of the lowest element of Paris marched 
on the Tuileries, where the Convention was in session ; but 
they found it surrounded by troops, commanded by a young 
Corsican officer named Napoleon Bonaparte. He met the 
mob with a storm of cannon-balls which stretched hundreds 
of them dead and dying on the ground. The others fled, 
and from that day on the rule of the mob in France was at 
an end. 



CHAPTER VI 
THE CAREER OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 

The Era of Liberty. — If you consider fully what you 
have just read you will see that. a new era had dawned in 
the history of the world, a great and promising era. In the 
past chapters we have told of the era of religious wars, 
when the people of Europe fought fiercely for their faith; 
and of the era of wars of ambition, when the kings of 
Europe fought savagely for glory and conquest. We have 
now to tell of the era of wars of liberty, in which the people 
fought bravely against the kings for the overthrow of despot- 
ism and for the great boon of freedom. 

Struggles for Freedom. — Two great events in this grand 
struggle have been mentioned. The first was that in which 
the people of England rose against the tyranny of Charles 
I. and drove him from the throne. The second was that in 
which the people of America rose against the oppression of 
George III. and won their independence. A third was that 
which we have just described, the mighty uprising of the 
French people against the evils of their government and the 
founding of a republic in place of the old despotism. This 
Jed to a wonderful series of events, of which we have next 
to tell. From the people came a remarkable man, under 
whose great leadership France became the master of Europe. 
His name was Napoleon Bonaparte. 

Napoleon at Toulon. — This great soldier, an humble na- 
tive of the little island of Corsica, first became known in 
1793, when he took part in the siege of Toulon', a seaport 

490 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 



491 



city in the south of France held by the royalists, who were 
aided by a fleet of English and Spanish ships of war. The 
army that besieged this place was wasting its time and doing 
nothing, when Napoleon, the young Corsican officer men- 




Birthplace of Napoleon. 



tioned, was put in charge of the artillery. This he handled 
so ably that the town was soon taken and the ships were 
put to flight. 

The Defence of the Convention. — The next important 
deed of Napoleon we have already told. It came on that 
famous day in 1795 when a mighty mob of the lowest peo- 
ple of Paris marched on the hall of the Convention. If 
they had succeeded, the members might have been mas- 
sacred and the Reign of Terror brought back. But Napo- 
leon stood there with his cannon, loaded not with blank 
cartridges but with solid balls, and when the time came he 



492 MODERN HISTORY 

did not hesitate to sweep the streets with cannon-shot and 
put the horde of revolutionists to flight. 

The Task of the Directors. — What brought the mob 
against the Convention was a new constitution which it had 
made, and which put the rule of the country into the hands 
of five men called Directors. These Directors soon had 
work to do. The French patriots had driven back the 
armies of Europe, and even conquered the country of the 
Netherlands and added it to France. But new armies were 
coming and a new struggle was at hand. France was 
threatened with destruction, and its people needed to fight 
like lions if they would save their country. 

The Army of Italy. — The Austrians held the north of 
Italy with a strong army. Against them was matched an 
ill-clad, half-fed army of Frenchmen, who had lost all spirit 
through continued ill-success. In seeking to find a new 
commander for this army the Directors settled on the little 
Corsican who had defeated the Paris mob. He had a strong 
friend among the Directors, who spoke in his behalf, and he 
was sent to take command in Italy. It was now 1796. He 
was twenty-six years old. Before another year should pass 
this little-known young officer was to make himself the most 
famous man in Europe. 

Napoleon's First Campaign. — Taking command of his 
little army of thirty-six thousand unpaid and half-starved 
- men, he led them against the sixty thousand well-equipped 
Austrians, whom he fought with such wonderful skill that 
he defeated them at every point and drove them out of Italy. 
The next year he invaded Austria, where the emperor was 
soon glad enough to ask for peace. Napoleon made him 
give up all his possessions in Italy except Venice. Then the 
conqueror came back to France with the laurels and spoils 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 



493 



of victory, and the people hailed him as they would have 
hailed a Cassar or an Alexander. The young Corsican had 
proved himself the greatest soldier of the age. 




S»£" 



Napoleon on the bridge of Akcole. 



The Egyptian Campaign. — It would take a volume to 
tell the story of Napoleon's career, but we must deal with 
it in a chapter. France had now made peace with all her 
enemies in Europe except England, so Napoleon proposed 
to lead an army to Egypt and perhaps to India, and fight 
against England by destroying its commerce and power in 
the East. This he did. He went to Egypt, and fought there 
and in Syria, defeating the Turks in every battle. But his 
fleet was destroyed by a British fleet under Lord Nelson, 
and when he laid siege to the city of Acre the British helped 
the Turks to drive him off. This was equal to a defeat 
in the field. Meanwhile, affairs were going very badly in 
France, and in August, 1799, Napoleon left his army in 
Egypt under an able general and returned to France. 



494 MODERN HISTORY 

Napoleon made First Consul. — Things had gone badly 
while Napoleon was away. Three nations were now at 
war with France, — England, Russia, and Austria. All that 
had been won in Italy was taken back by the Austrians. 
Money was badly needed, the government was in a helpless 
state, and the people were furious with the Directors. Na- 
poleon at once took the law into his own hands. As Crom- 
well had done before him, he led soldiers into the legislative 
hall and drove out the members at the point of the bayonet. 
Then a new constitution was adopted, with three Consuls 
to govern the state. Napoleon was appointed First Consul. 
The other two were mere figure-heads, and the little Corsi- 
can officer had become king in everything except the name. 

Marengo and Hohenlinden. — France was in danger from 
without as well as from within, and the First Consul had 
great work to do. He lost no time. Like Hannibal of old, 
he led an army over the frozen summits of the Alps, de- 
scended like a mountain torrent on the Austrians in Italy, 
and won at Marengo one of the most brilliant of his vic- 
tories (1800). In the same year General Moreau won an- 
other great victory at Hohenlinden in Austria, and the em- 
peror was again glad to make peace. This time he gave up 
Belgium to France. 

The Position of England. — England was now the only 
country in arms against France. But it was a powerful one, 
for its ships ruled the sea and Napoleon could not send an 
army against it. So now he, in his turn, was glad enough 
to make peace, and a treaty was signed in March, 1802. 

First Consul for Life and Emperor. — Napoleon was 
now one of the great rulers of Europe. The French wor- 
shipped him almost as a deity. Not since the days of 
Charlemagne had the world seen so brilliant a soldier. He 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 495 

could have whatever he asked for. In August, 1802, he 
was made First Consul for life, and in 1804 he laid plans to 
be made Emperor. A vote of the people was taken and 
nearly the whole nation voted in his favor. He was 
crowned by the Pope on the 2d of December, 1804. 
Wonderful had been his progress since that day, nine years 
before, when he, a young unknown, had dispersed the mob 
of Paris with cannon-balls. 

A Strong- Coalition against France. — The next year 
Napoleon was crowned King of Italy at Milan, w T ith the 
famous iron crown of the Lombards. But the short peace 
was at an end. England was in arms again. And it had 
induced Austria and Russia to declare war against France. 
The new emperor and king had to meet one of the most 
formidable coalitions of his life. 

Ulm and Austerlitz. — It Avas not Napoleon's method to 
waste time. He began with vast preparations for invading 
England. But the Austrian and Russian armies were on the 
march, and he suddenly broke up his camp on the coast, 
swept across France with the speed of an avalanche at the 
head of one hundred and sixty thousand men, and in Octo- 
ber, 1805, captured General Mack at Ulm, with thirty thou- 
sand men. Then on to Vienna he marched, took possession 
of the capital of Austria, and on December 2 met the com- 
bined armies of Austria and Russia at Aus'terlitz and won 
the most famous victory of his life. The next day the Em- 
peror of Austria came to his tent to beg for peace. Napo- 
leon granted it, but he forced him to yield to France twenty 
thousand square miles of territory. 

Nelson at Trafalgar. — While Napoleon was thus victori- 
ous on land, France met with a great disaster at sea. Lord 
Nelson, the famous English admiral who had destroyed 



496 MODERN HISTORY 

Napoleon's fleet in Egypt, met the French and Spanish 
fleets off Cape Trafalgar and won a crushing victory. 
Nelson was killed in the battle, but he had gained for 
England the empire of the sea. Napoleon never again 
thought of invading England. 

Napoleon as King-Maker. — Napoleon was now not only 
Emperor of France and King of Italy, but was almost the 
ruler of Germany. He made kings out of electors, and 
broke up the old state of affairs, putting an end to what little 
was left of the Holy Roman Empire, formed a thousand 
years before. Francis II. had to give up the title of Emperor 
of Germany and content himself with that of Francis I., Em- 
peror of Austria, and the smaller states were formed into a 
" Confederation of the Rhine, 1 ' with Napoleon as their " Pro- 
tector. 1 ' At the same time he made his brother Joseph King 
of Naples and his brother Louis King of Holland. 

"War with Prussia. — So far Prussia had kept out of the 
war, but Napoleon treated its king, Frederick William III., 
with such rude insults, that in 1806 he declared war against 
France, and raised an army of one hundred and fifty thou- 
sand men. Against these Napoleon sent his veteran forces, 
won two great battles in one day, and crushed the power 
which Frederick the Great had built up. 

Eylau and Friedland. — The Russians were still in arms, 
and what was left of the Prussians joined them. In 1807 
Napoleon met them on the frozen plains of Poland, and in 
February fought them at Eylau (Flaw) in the midst of a 
blinding snowstorm. Neither side won a victory here, but 
in June they met again at Fried'land, and the Russians were 
defeated with a loss of sixty thousand men. In July peace 
was made with Russia and Prussia, and the latter country 
had to give up great part of its territory. 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 497 

New King-Making-. — The king-maker now went to work 
again. His brother Jerome was made King of Westphalia, 
a country formed of part of the territory taken from Prussia. 
His brother Joseph was removed from Naples and made 




Napoleon meeting the Queen of Prussia. 

King of Spain, and his brother-in-law Murat, his most fa- 
mous cavalry leader, was made King of Naples. He also 
tried to break up the commerce of England by closing all 
the ports of Europe against British ships. 

"Wellington in Spain. — England had so far helped Eu- 
rope with its money and its ships, but not with its soldiers. 
It now senjt an army to Portugal, under Lord Wellington, 
to try and drive the French out of Spain. The war that 
followed in this quarter lasted nearly five years, and Wel- 
lington won many important victories over the French. 

32 



498 MODERN HISTORY 

A New "War with Austria. — Meanwhile, Napoleon was 
kept busy elsewhere. In 1809 Austria was in arms again, with 
half a million of men in the field. Napoleon, who was fighting 1 
in Spain, marched in all haste to Austria when he heard this 
news, and fought two battles near Vienna without success. 
But at the great battle of Wagram (July 5, 1809) the Aus- 
trians met with a crushing defeat, and were forced to give 
up another large section of territory to obtain peace. 

Napoleon and his "Wives. — One result of this victory 
was to give Napoleon a new wife. Josephine, who had 
married him when he was a poor young officer, was di- 
vorced because she had no children, for Napoleon wanted a 
son to succeed him. He forced the Emperor Francis of 
Austria to give him his daughter Maria Louisa for a wife. 

Napoleon's Vast Power. — Napoleon was now at the 
summit of his power. He and his brothers reigned over 
most of western Europe. Switzerland and much of Ger- 
many acknowledged him as Protector. Prussia and Austria 
were prostrate at his feet, and he was united in marriage 
to the Austrian royal house. Russia was at peace with 
him, and he seemed practically the lord of Europe, England 
alone defying him. But when at the top one is often near- 
est a fall. This Napoleon was soon to learn. His ambition 
was paving the way to his ruin. 

The Invasion of Russia. — The trouble came with Russia, 
"which refused to be bound by Napoleon's continental sys- 
tem of commerce, and opened its ports to the merchant ships 
of England. Finding that the Czar would not obey his 
orders, and chose to rule his own land in his own way, Na- 
poleon determined to punish him as he had done Prussia 
and Austria. He gathered an immense force, five hundred 
thousand strong, made up of troops from all central and 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 499 

western Europe, and in June, 1812, crossed the River Nie'- 
man and trod on the soil of Russia, directing his march 
towards Moscow, the old capital of the realm. 

The March to Moscow. — The Russians retreated before 
him, laying waste the land as they went. They fought only 
one battle, at Borodi'no, which Napoleon won, but at 
great loss to his own army. Then the French marched to 
Moscow and entered it in joy and triumph. They fancied 
that their work was done and Russia won. 

The Burning of Moscow. — But that night fires began to 
appear on every side, and soon the city was wrapped in 
flames. The Russians, unable to defend their fine old capi- 
tal, had set it on fire, and in four days most of it was a heap 
of ashes and the splendid winter quarters on which Napoleon 
had counted lay in ruins around him. 

Nothing left but Retreat. — The victor waited in the des- 
olation of Moscow for a month, hoping that the Czar would 
ask for peace. But not a word came from St. Petersburg, 
the terrible Russian winter was coming on, the Russian 
armies were threatening his depots of supplies, and nothing 
was left but retreat. On the 19th of October the sadly 
disappointed conqueror began his backward march. 

The Pate of the Grand Army. — Never had there been a 
more dreadful march. The winter came on early and fierce, 
and thousands of the great army died of cold. Thousands 
more died of famine and in battle, for the Russians faced 
and fought them at every point. Thousands more were 
taken prisoners. When the frozen Beresi'na River was 
crossed, out of the whole " Grand Army" only twenty thou- 
sand men were left. Napoleon now hurried at all speed to 
Paris, to prepare for the mighty struggle which he plainly 
saw before him. He knew well that the Austrians and 



500 



MODERN HISTORY 



Prussians, whom he had forced to aid him, would turn on 
him as foes as soon as his power sank. 







The Retreat from Moscow. 

The Last Campaign. — By the beginning of 1813 he had 
another great army in the field, three hundred and fifty 
thousand strong. At Liitzen, in Saxony, the scene of the 
famous victory of Gustavus Adolphus, he defeated his foes 
and captured Dresden. But he was soon forced to retreat 
to Leip'sic, where a terrible battle was fought, lasting three 
days. The allies were in overwhelming force and Napoleon 
fought in vain ; he was obliged to retreat. This retreat did 
not end till the allies had entered France and captured Paris. 
Thus ended the mighty conflict. Napoleon was forced to' 
give up his throne. On the 4th of April, 1814, he signed 
the paper which took from him the Empire of France, and 
on the 20th he set out for the little island of Elba, which 
was left to him as a puny kingdom. 

The Return of the Bourbons. — On May 3, 1814, the 
Bourbon kings came back, the brother of Louis XVI. taking 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 501 

the throne with the title of Louis XVIII. The little boy, son 
of Louis XVI., who had died in prison during the Reign of 
Terror, w T as called Louis XVII. 

Napoleon back from Elba. — The allies made a sad mis- 
take in leaving Napoleon so near to France. Ten months 
later he escaped from Elba and landed in France. As he 
moved towards Paris the troops joined him on all sides and 
in a few days Louis XVIII. was in flight and Napoleon was 
again on the throne. 

The End conies at "Waterloo. — But he was like a 
wounded lion fighting for life. On every side his enemies 
gathered, and on the 18th of June, 1815, he met his fate at 
Waterloo, in Belgium, where an army of British and Ger- 
mans under Lord Wellington met and utterly defeated his 
hastily collected forces. 

Napoleon sent to St. Helena. — The end had come. 
Napoleon fled to Paris. But all hope was at an end, and 
he proceeded to the coast, where he surrendered to the cap- 
tain of a British man-of-war. No mistake was made this 
time. He was sent to the far-off island of St. Helena, in 
the South Atlantic, and there the mighty soldier and em- 
peror died in captivity on the 5th of May, 1821. 

SUMMARY OF HISTORY, 1600 TO 1800. 
England From James I. To George III. 

James I., King of Scotland, succeeds Elizabeth .... 1603 

All Great Eritian under one king 1603 

Charles I. 1625 

The king's quarrel with Parliament ; rules without 

Parliament 1629-1640 

Civil war in England '. . . . .1642-1648 

Execution of the king 1649 

Cromwell and the commonwealth . 1649-1660 



502 MODERN HISTORY 

Cromwell, Lord Protector 1653 

Charles II. proclaimed king 1660 

The Great Plague and Great Fire in England . . 1665, 1666 

James II. ; a Catholic king . 1685 

William of Orange invited to take the throne ; James 

expelled 1688 

William III. succeeds 1688 

The Bill of Rights passed 1688 

James defeated in Ireland 1690 

Anne succeeds 1702 

Marlborough wins victories from France 1704-1709 

The union of England and Scotland 1707 

George I. (Elector of Hanover) succeeds 1714 

George II. (Walpole as Prime Minister) 1727 

Wesley founds the sect of Methodists 1739 

The Young Pretender 1745 

The Seven Years' War with France 1755-1762 

George III 1760 

Revolt of the American colonies 1775 

France From Richelieu to the Revolution. 

Richelieu made Prime Minister by Louis XIII 1624 

He puts down the nobles and the Huguenots ; humbles 

Austria in the Thirty Years' War . . .... 1624-1648 

Louis XIV 1643 

Mazarin Prime Minister 1643-1661 

War of the Fronde 1648-1654 

Louis rules without a minister 1661 

The war in Flanders 1667-1668 

The invasion of Holland 1672-1679 

The expulsion of the Huguenots 1685 

Invasion of the Palatinate 1688-1697 

The war of the Spanish Succession 1701-1714 

Victories of Marlborough and Prince Eugene . . 1704-1709 

Louis XV 1715 

The Mississippi Bubble 1716-1720 

The war in America and loss of Canada 1755-1762 



THE ERA OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT 503 

Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette 1774 

The States-General called in session 1789 

Prussia. 

Frederick William, the Great Elector 1640 

Frederick William I. (first Prussian king) and his army 

of giants 1701 

Frederick the Great 1740 

Frederick seizes Silesia 1740 

The coalition against Frederick 1756 

The Seven Years' War in Prussia 1756-1763 

Frederick triumphs 1763 

Prussia becomes powerful under Frederick . . .1763-1786 

Russia. 

Ruric, the first Russian king 862 

The Mongolian invasion 1224 

Russia tributary to the Mongol Khans 1224—1480 

Ivan the Great 1462-1505 

Expulsion of the Mongols 1480 

The Romanoff dynasty begins 1613 

Peter the Great 1682 

Takes Azov from Turkey 1696 

Works as a ship-carpenter in Holland 1697 

His ideas of reform ; the tax on beards and skirts . . . 1699 

The war with Charles XII. of Sweden 1700 

Charles defeats the Russians at Riga 1700 

Charles subdues Poland 1700-1704 

Peter founds St. Petersburg 1703 

He defeats Charles XII. at Pultowa 1709 

Catharine the Great 1762 

The first partition of Poland 1772 

Conquest of the Crimea 1783 

Final partitions of Poland 1793, 1795 

The French Revolution and Empire. 

Victory of the Commons in the States-General .... 1789 
The destruction of the Bastile 1789 



504 MODERN HISTORY 

Louis XVI. brought to Paris 1789 

Flight and capture of the king 1791 

The French constitution completed 1791 

War begun against France . ' 1792 

France proclaimed a republic 1793 

Execution of the king 1793 

Execution of the queen 1793 

The Reign of Terror 1793-1794 

The execution of Robespierre 1794 

Napoleon saves the Convention 1795 

His victories in Italy 1796 

His campaign in Egypt 1798-1799 

Made First Consul 1799 

The victory at Marengo 1800 

Made First Consul for life .... 1802 

Crowned as emperor 1804 

War with Austria and Russia 1805 

War with Prussia 1806 

Battles of Eylau and Friedland 1807 

War with Austria ; victory at Wagram 1809 

Napoleon divorces Josephine and marries Maria Louisa 

of Austria 1809 

The invasion of Russia 1812 

The burning of Moscow and disastrous retreat of the 

French 1812 

The last campaign, and abdication of Napoleon . . . 1813 

Napoleon returns from Elba and is defeated at Waterloo 1815 

Dies at St. Helena 1821 



SECTION III.— THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 

CHAPTER I 
EUROPE IN RECENT TIMES 

Events of the Centuries. — -Our long journey down the 
highway of man's progress through time has now brought 
us to the verge of our own days, and to a period which 
seems to us far more crowded with important events than 
the earlier centuries. But this is simply because it is so 
close to us. The past centuries were as busy, in their way, 
as the recent one has been, and we cannot justly give the 
latter any fuller attention than those that went before. 

The Struggle for Freedom. — The history of Europe dur- 
ing the nineteenth century is largely made up of that earnest 
struggle w T hich was spoken of in the last chapter, the con- 
flict between the people and the kings, the one demanding 
greater liberty and fuller self-government, the other seeking 
to re-establish despotism. This great conflict showed itself 
in a dozen ways during the century, as will appear in what 
we have to relate. 

The Influence of France. — The French Revolution spread 
its influence widely through Europe, and on all sides the 
people of the leading nations were filled with a thirst for 
liberty. Though Napoleon ruled as a despot, he did not 
take from France the free institutions it had won. In Italy, 
in Spain, in Germany, an earnest aspiration for freedom was 
awakened, and the people strongly protested against despotic 

505 



506 MODERN HISTORY 

rule. This new feeling in the people of Europe had much 
to do with the events that followed. 

The Holy Alliance. — When Waterloo had been fought 
and lost, Napoleon had left France for the last time, and 
Louis XVIII. had come back to the throne, the great 
monarchs of the continent entered into a compact against 
popular liberty, to which they gave the high-sounding title 
of the " Holy Alliance, 1 ' but which soon came to be a league 
of the kings against the people. The monarchs were to do 
all the ruling, and it was the business of the people to 
submit. 

The League of Kings. — The monarchs who formed this 
royal league were Alexander I. of Russia, Francis I. of 
Austria, and Frederick William III. of Prussia, but in time 
all the monarchs of Europe joined it, except the King of 
England, the Sultan of Turkey, and the Pope. 

The Outbreak against Tyranny in Spain. — The first 
work of this conspiracy of the kings against the people was 
done in Spain. Ferdinand VII., king of that country, showed 
himself a tyrant, and on all sides his people struck for 
liberty. The Spanish colonies in America broke into rebel- 
lion and fought until they won their independence. In Spain 
the leaders of the army rebelled in 1820 and demanded the 
liberal constitution of 1812. The king, who was as great a 
coward as he was a tyrant, granted it to them under com- 
pulsion. 

The Holy Alliance invades Spain. — Here was work for 
the " Holy Alliance. 1 ' In 1822 the monarchs held a meeting 
and decided to interfere in Spanish affairs, and France was 
appointed to send an army into that country. The new 
government was quickly overthrown, the leaders of the 
rebellion were hanged, a large number of others were put 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 



507 



into prison, and Ferdinand VII. became an absolute monarch 
by aid of the bayonets of France. Thus the " Holy Alliance 1 ' 
crushed the movement for liberty in Spain. 




The Bull Ring at Seville. 

The "Work of the Tyrants in Italy. — A similar event 
took place in Italy. Here most of the small states had come 
under rulers of the royal house of Austria, who soon proved 
themselves tyrants. The people protested, and a secret 
society was formed called the Carbona'ri, whose purpose 
was to free Italy from the rule of the despots. In Naples 
a new and liberal constitution was proclaimed. But now 
the " Holy Alliance" came in and put a quick end to this 
movement for liberty. Austria acted as its agent, and sent 
an army of sixty thousand men into Italy. By this large 
force the revolution was put down in blood and the chains 
of despotism were forged again. A movement in Germany 
for popular government was also brought to an end, and 
tyranny seemed to have brought all Europe under its foot. 



508 



MODERN HISTORY 



Greece and Turkey. — The first successful struggle for 
liberty was in the small country of Greece, which for cen- 
turies had been under the iron rule of the Turks. The 
people of that old land of liberty felt the new spirit in the 
air, and broke out into revolt against Turkey. They called 
a Congress, and in 1822 adopted a constitution and declared 
for liberty. 

The "War of Independence in Greece. — Turkey at once 
tried to crush the rebellion in its usual cruel way. When 

the Turks captured the island 
of Scio they butchered nearly 
twenty thousand of the people. 
The Greeks treated their pris- 
oners in the same way. The 
"Holy Alliance' 1 would not help 
them, since they looked on the 
movement as a rebellion against 
royal authority, so the Greeks 
had to fight their battle alone with 
the great power of Turkey. But 
volunteers came to their help, 
among them the celebrated Eng- 
lish poet, Lord Byron, who died 
in the cause of Greek liberty. At 
length, after five years' struggle, 
some of the powers of Europe . 
began to help Greece, and in 
1828 it gained its independence. 
Russia and Turkey at "War. 
— The freedom of Greece was 
followed by a Russian war against Turkey, in which Con- 
stantinople would have been taken if England and Austria 




Statue of Bybon and Greece. 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 509 

had not interfered. For centuries there had been war at 
times between these two countries, and there was to be 
more in the years to come. 

Political Changes of 1815. — After the fall of Napoleon 
in 1815 several changes were made in the governments of 
Europe. Holland and Belgium were united as one country, 
called the Netherlands. But in 1830 Belgium broke loose 
and became a separate kingdom. The republic of Switzer- 
land had been overturned by Napoleon, but it was founded 
again in 1815, under a new constitution. It still retains its 
republican government. The states of Germany were united 
into a Germanic Confederation, and Norway, which had long 
belonged to Denmark, became united to Sweden. Such 
were the principal changes that took place. 

The Revolution of 1830. — The next period of important 
events came about 1830. Louis XVII. of France died in 
1824, and his brother took the throne as Charles X. The 
new king was an old man, stubborn and foolish, and he 
fancied he could rule over France in the old way of the 
French kings. All he did was to bring on a new revolution. 
The people of Paris broke out in rebellion in 1830, the old 
tyrant was obliged to flee from the country, and Louis 
Philippe, Duke of Orleans, was made king. 

A "Wave of Revolution. — This outbreak in France sent 
a wave of revolution through all Europe. Belgium broke 
loose from Holland, as above stated, there was a rebellion 
in Poland, there were insurrections all through Italy, and 
there were uprisings in some of the German states. But 
the force of despotism was still great, and all the move- 
ments of the people were put down. 

Reform in England. — The only gain for liberty was in 
England. In that country the Catholics, who had long been 



510 MODERN HISTORY 

deprived of nearly all political rights, were given in 1829 the 
liberty to hold office and become members of Parliament. 
In 1832 a great reform bill was passed by Parliament which 
gave the right of voting to hundreds of thousands of people 
who had never possessed it. This was a great gain for 
English liberty. 

Louis Philippe and his Government. — For the next 
great movement in Europe we must go back to France and 
onward to the year 1848. Louis Philippe, the new king, 
began to govern in a liberal way, and made himself very 
popular. But as time went on he did things of which the 
people did not approve. The worst thing was about the 
suffrage. Of the men of France hardly one-twenty-fifth had 
the right to vote, and the king would not listen to those 
who asked for a wider suffrage. Discontent arose ; some 
demanded universal suffrage, and many wanted the old 
republic back again ; the land was full of rebellious feeling. 

The Revolution of 1848. — When they found that the 
king would not listen to them, the people of Paris once 
more broke out in fierce revolt. This was in February, 1848. 
The rebels would have nothing now but freedom and the 
republic, the king fled in all haste to England under the 
assumed name, of Mr. Smith, and what is known as the 
Second Republic was at once formed, with self-rule for the 
people. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, a nephew of the great 
Napoleon, and grandson of the Empress Josephine and her 
first husband, was elected president, and France was launched 
again on a new career. 

Effect of the Revolution of 1848. — The French Revo- 
lution of 1848 had the same effect in Europe as that of 1830 : 
it set the people in motion nearly everywhere, and demands 
for liberty were widespread. The most striking results were 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 511 

in Germany, Austria, and Italy, where strong revolutionary 
movements took place. 

The Outbreak in Germany and Italy. — In many of the 
small states of Germany the people demanded and gained 
greater liberty. Even in Prussia and Austria the people 
were granted many of the rights they demanded. An effort 
was made to unite all Germany into one great state, but 
soon everything went wrong, and in little over a year the 
rulers had won their old power again. In Italy a rebellion 
broke out against the Austrians, and a war took place by 
which they were driven out of the country. But they came 
back, defeated their enemies, and regained their power in 
1849. Charles Albert, of Sardinia, the leader in the war 
with Austria, now gave up his throne to his young son, 
Victor Emmanuel. 

Austria and Hungary at War. — The most notable result 
of this great struggle for liberty was in Hungary and Bohe- 
mia, which were parts of Austria, and broke out in a fierce 
struggle for freedom. There was severe fighting all through 
the empire, even in the city of Vienna, but the rebels were 
soon put down except in Hungary, where a bitter and cruel 
war went on. The patriot Kossuth and other able generals 
led the Hungarians, who might have won their liberty if 
Austria had not called in Russia to her aid. Only then 
were the Hungarians beaten and the leaders forced to flee. 
The Austrians dealt with their prisoners with great barbarity, 
and Hungary was treated like a conquered country. 

The Arbitrary Acts of Louis Napoleon. — We must re- 
turn to France, to see how the new republic prospered. It 
had made a sad mistake in choosing for president Louis 
Napoleon, an ambitious adventurer, whose mind was full of 
the career of his famous uncle. It was his purpose to make 



512 MODERN HISTORY 

himself an emperor. His term of office ended in May, 1852, 
but on December 2, 1851, he seized all his enemies in the 
Assembly, and posted notices restoring universal suffrage, 
which had been taken from the people, and calling for the 
election of a new Assembly and the making of a new 
constitution. The people were gratified by their gift of suf- 
frage, and voted to extend his term of office to ten years. 
Then he proposed to restore the empire. Again the vote of 
the people was very largely in his favor, and he was elected 
emperor as Napoleon III. Such was the outcome in France 
of the revolution of 1848. 

Russia and. Turkey. — The next important event in Europe 
had to do with Turkey. That country had long been grow- 




Statue of Nicholas I. 



ing Aveak, and had been given the title of "the sick man of 
Europe." Russia was anxious to gain possession of it, so 
as to have an opening for its ships into the Mediterranean 
Sea. Nicholas I., Czar of Russia, badly wanted an excuse 
to go to war with Turkey, and he got one at length from a 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 513 

dispute about the Christians under Turkish rule. He de- 
clared war against Turkey in 1853. 

The Allies of Turkey. — Most of the countries of Europe 
were afraid to let Russia become master of Constantinople, 
for fear that it would grow to be the most powerful of the 
nations, and England and France came to the help of Turkey. 
This led to a war between Russia on one side and England, 
France, and Turkey on the other. It is called the Crimean 
War, since most of the fighting was done in the peninsula of 
the Crimea, in the Black Sea. 

The Siege and Capture of Sebastopol. — The foes of 
Russia landed in the Crimea in September, 1854, and soon 
laid siege to the Russian stronghold of Sebastopol (Seb-as- 
to'pol). The siege lasted several months, and some severe 
battles in the field took place. At length the city was taken 
by assault, and the long and costly war came to an end, 
Russia being defeated. 

The "War in Italy. — In the years that followed there were 
a number of important wars in Europe. One of these was 
in Italy, whose people were anxious to drive out the Aus- 
trians. This, in 1859, led to a war in which Napoleon III., 
who wished to prove himself a conqueror, came to the aid 
of Sardinia. The French arnry was successful, the Austrians 
being defeated in two great battles and forced to give up 
most of their possessions in Italy. 

The Union of Italy. — Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia had 
long desired to unite Italy into one kingdom. He was greatly 
helped in this by the famous patriot Garibaldi, who invaded 
Sicily and Naples with a strong force, drove out their tyran- 
nical king, and saluted the King of Sardinia as King of Italy. 
In 1861 a parliament of United Italy was called, but ten 
years more were to pass before the union was complete. 

33 



514 MODERN HISTORY 

Prussia and her Great Minister. — The story of Europe 
during the years spoken of was one of war, and this was 
continued during the years that followed. In these years 
Prussia made a vigorous effort to become supreme in Ger- 
many, through the ambitious designs of Count Bismarck, the 
famous Prime Minister of King William I. 

The Conflict between Prussia and Austria. — Austria had 
long been the leading power in Germany, but Prussia now 
pushed to the front. In 1864 Prussia and Austria went to 
war with Denmark, and took from that country the two 
duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. A dispute soon arose 
about these duchies, and this, in 1866 brought Prussia and 
Austria into war. Not often has there been so short a war. 
It lasted only six weeks. Prussia had a splendid army 
under able generals, and at the battle of Sad'owa it defeated 
the Austrians so completely that they were forced to ask for 
peace. This made Prussia the great power in Germany. 

Napoleon III. makes War. — When Napoleon III. saw 
Prussia going ahead so rapidly he became alarmed. He was 
ambitious to keep France the leading state of Europe, and 
had the false fancy that his army was more than a match 
for that of Prussia ; so he made use of a weak excuse for 
war, and called his armies into the field. 

Prance defeated and Napoleon deposed. — Never was a 
man more mistaken and more quickly undeceived. The 
"Germans were ready with a splendid army and able leaders, 
and their trained troops poured rapidly into France. The 
French army was far from ready. The first battle was 
fought on August 4, 1870. On September 1, less than a 
month later, came the decisive battle of the war, that of 
Sedan, in which the French were so utterly defeated that the 
whole army of eighty-four thousand men surrendered and 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 515 

the Emperor Napoleon yielded himself prisoner. That ended 
his career as emperor. When the news reached Paris he 
was declared deposed, and a new republic was proclaimed. 




Meeting of Napoleon III. and Bismarck. 

A New Emperor of Germany. — The war did not reach 
its final end till January 28, 1871, when Paris was sur- 
rendered and all was at an end. As a result of the great 
German victory all Germany, except Austria, united into an 
empire, and on January 18, 1871, King William was crowned 
and proclaimed Emperor of Germany. France was obliged 
to give up two provinces to Germany, and to pay that 
country one billion dollars. 

The Russo-Turkish "War of 1877. — Another war which 
demands our attention soon followed. Troubles broke out 
with the Christian people of Turkey in 1875, and the Turks 
committed such terrible outrages and massacres in Bulgaria 
that Russia sent its army to punish the Sultan for his savage 
cruelty. The war began in April, 1877, and ended early in 
the following year. The Russians were everywhere success- 
ful, and would have captured Constantinople had not the 



516 



MODERN HISTORY 




MlRABEAU. 



other powers become alarmed, and insisted that Russia must 
not take possession of it. As it was, Turkey was obliged to 

give up great part of its ter- 
ritory in Europe, and sev- 
eral independent states were 
formed out of this territory. 
The Unity of Italy and 
Germany. — Meanwhile, 
Italy had gone on towards 
unity. In 1866 Venice ob- 
tained its freedom and Aus- 
tria lost its last hold in Italy. 
Victor Emmanuel was now 
monarch of all Italy except 
Rome, in which a French 
force had long sustained the Pope. After the war with 
Germany these French troops were withdrawn and an Italian 
army at once marched in and took possession of Rome. For 
the first time since the year 476 Italy had become a united 
country, and Rome was again its capital, and for the first 
time for many centuries Germany was united and its small 
states were merged into one strong empire. 

Reform Movements in England. — A few words must be 
said about England. In the year 1858 the Jews of that 
country were admitted to Parliament, as the Catholics had 
"been thirty years before, and in 1871 Ireland was relieved 
from supporting the Church of England. It may be seen 
from this that England was fast growing liberal in religion, 
and giving political liberty to all its people. Great reform 
bills were passed which went far towards giving the people 
of England universal suffrage, and a strong effort was made 
to give Ireland what is known as Home Rule, that is, a 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 517 

Parliament of her own. In 1903 a law was passed to aid in 
purchasing the land of Ireland for the peasantry and thus do 
away with the misery which had so long prevailed in that 
unhappy land. 

"War between Turkey and Greece. — The last war of the 
nineteenth century in Europe took place in 1897, when an 
insurrection in the Island of Crete brought Greece and Tur- 
key into a state of war. The Turks were much the better 
prepared for hostilities, and in a very short time the Greek 
army was completely defeated and Athens in danger of being 
occupied. Only the action of the powers of Europe saved 
Greece from being taken back under Turkish rule. Turkey 
was forced to give up the territory it had taken, but was 
granted a large indemnity, which Greece engaged to pay. 

The Work of the Anarchists. — We may close this brief 
review of the recent history of Europe with reference to a 
dangerous movement of certain secret societies against the 
kings. During the century just described many secret in- 
dustrial and political societies were formed. Of these the 
most threatening were those called Nihilists, a Russian asso- 
ciation, and Anarchists, a society for the overthrow of all 
government, which spread itself widely throughout Europe. 
It was the chief aim of these societies to do away with the 
existing form of government, and this they tried to accom- 
plish by the assassination of the rulers of Europe. In 1881 
Alexander, the Czar of Russia, was assassinated by the Ni- 
hilists, in 1894 President Carnot, of France, was slain by the 
Anarchists, and in 1900 King Humbert of Italy was similarly 
killed. In 1 902 a like fate met President McKinley, of the 
United States. Attacks were made on other monarchs, and 
this death-dealing society is still in active existence, despite 
all efforts to eradicate it. 



CHAPTER II 

THE COUNTRIES OF ASIA 

Outgrowths of Civilization. — We have hitherto dealt 
only with the original seats of civilization, and the civilized 
States of Europe which arose at later dates as a result of the 

But during several of the 



conquest of the Roman Empire. 




The Taj Mahal, a Splendid Mogul Edifice. 

later centuries of the period treated civilization had been 
spreading over new lands and into new continents, as a 
result of discovery and colonization. These outgrowths, 
and the new nations to which they gave rise, we have so far 
passed without notice, that they might be dealt with sepa- 
rately as the latest harvest-field of human progress. 

518 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 519 

India in the Past. — Of these new outgrowths of civiliza- 
tion, those of Asia first present themselves. If we consider 
India, the great peninsula of the southeast, we shall find 
that for many centuries that country had no history known 
to the world. It was divided up into numerous small nations 
of very little political importance. When the Saracens made 
their great conquering marches they gained possession of 
most of northern India, and in the fourteenth century a 
powerful Mohammedan empire existed in that country, with 
Delhi for its capital. Then came the terrible raid of the 
Mongols under Tamerlane, and later on, in the sixteenth 
century, the famous Mogul (Mongol) Empire was founded, 
which had a number of powerful monarchs and has left 
behind it splendid works of art. 

The Rise of British India. — During the eighteenth cen- 
tury the French and English took possession of the coastal 
regions of India, and were soon at war for supremacy. A 
great battle was fought at Plassey in 1757, in which the Eng- 
lish, led by Robert Clive, defeated the French so thoroughly 
that they withdrew and left the English in control. Under 
the subsequent rule of Warren Hastings the dominion of the 
East India Company spread widely over India, many of the 
small states being subdued. The British power grew steadily 
under later governors, but it met with a great reverse in 
1857, just a century after the battle of Plassey. Then the 
Hindu soldiers in the British army broke out in mutiny, and 
terrible massacres of the British in India took place. In the 
end the mutiny was stamped out in blood, and in 1858 India 
was taken from the East India Company and was made a sec- 
tion of the British realm. In 1877 Queen Victoria was pro- 
claimed Empress of India. At the present day nearly the 
whole of India is under British rule. 



520 MODERN HISTORY 

Modern Persia. — The land of Persia, once the seat of a 
mighty empire, as described in former chapters, fell under 
the rule of the Saracens in their great outflow, and later on 
was taken by the Mongols and the Turks. Early in the 
eighteenth century it was conquered by the Afghans, but in 
1736 a famous Persian soldier, Nadir Shah, drove them out, 
and his descendants have since occupied the throne. There 
were wars with Russia in 1813 and 1828, in which Georgia 
and other provinces were lost, and with England in 1856- 
1857. In 1896 the Shah of Persia was killed by a fanatical 
assassin, leaving the throne to his son, Mozzar-ed-din, the 
present monarch of the Persian realm. 

The Dutch and French in Asia. — In the seas south of 
India the Dutch still hold a number of rich and fertile islands, 
of which they took possession centuries ago. These are the 
great spice islands of the world, and yield Holland a large 
revenue. West of India lies the extensive peninsula of Indo- 
China, the greater part of which is now held by Europeans. 
The kingdom of Burmah and the western shores of the 
peninsula have been taken possession of by England, and 
all the eastern part of the country has of late years been 
seized by France. The only independent kingdom that re- 
mains is Siam, in the central part of the country^ In 1893 
the French took possession of fifty thousand square miles 
of the territory of Siam, and the whole of it is threatened 
by England and France. 

The Early Story of Japan. — We must now speak of 
Japan, an island empire lying off the coast of northern Asia, 
which is one of the most interesting countries of recent 
times. The first we knew of this group of islands was 
when Marco Polo went to China in the thirteenth century. 
He visited an island called Zipanga, which was of wonder- 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 521 

ful wealth. Later on the Portuguese made settlements in 
Japan and many of the Japanese became Christians. But 
disputes and troubles arose, and in the end the Portuguese 
were driven from the island empire, and in 1622 a great 




Dai-Buts, the Japanese Buddha. 

massacre of the Christians took place. After that for more 
than two hundred years Japan was closed against all Euro- 
peans except the Dutch, who were permitted to send trading 
vessels to one port. 

The Opening of Japan. — In the nineteenth century, 
when the merchant ships of Europe and America began to 
sail in large numbers to the Pacific Ocean, this severe seclu- 
sion of Japan grew very annoying to the commercial nations. 
The result was that in 1853 the United States sent out a 
fleet under Commodore Perry, who with much difficulty in- 
duced the Japanese to make a treaty of commerce with his 



522 MODERN HISTORY 

country. Soon after that olher nations made similar treaties, 
and Japan opened its ports to the commerce of the world. 

The Japanese System of Government. — The govern- 
ment of Japan was found to be a feudal one, much like 
those of former Europe, the great nobles having almost 
independent power. The greatest of these, called the 
Shogun, or Tycoon, had a power like that of the Mayor of 
the Palace in old France. He was at the head of the mili- 
tary organization, and was the actual ruler of the country, 
the emperor, or Mikado, being deprived of all the power of 
his office, and kept in close seclusion. 

The End. of Feudalism. — This state of affairs came to 
an end in 1866, for in that year a revolution broke out in 
Japan, by which the Mikado was brought back to his full 
authority, the Shogun lost his control, and the feudal system 
of Japan was brought to an end. Since then the nobles 
have had no more power there than in other nations. 

The Great Progress of Japan. — The government and 
people of Japan soon showed a remarkable eagerness to take 
up the inventions and organization of other countries, and 
the new civilization made remarkable progress in the island 
realm. The emperor yielded up his despotic power and 
gave his people a liberal constitution and representative 
government, and in much less than half a century Japan 
became as progressive and advanced a country as any in 
Europe. Its remarkable progress in military science was first 
shown in 1894, when a war broke out with China in regard 
to the rights of the two countries in Corea, a neighboring 
kingdom. In a brief time the Japanese had thoroughly 
beaten the Chinese and driven them out of Corea. 

The War with Russia. — In 1904 a greater war broke 
out, this time between Japan and the powerful empire of 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 523 

Russia, which was far stronger than China in military force. 
This war was brought about by the occupation of Manchu'ria,' 
a province of China, by the Russians. Japan grew afraid of 
having such dangerous neighbors, and requested the Russians 
to leave Manchuria. This was not done, and war broke out. 
In this contest the Japanese soon showed that they had 
learned the modern art of war thoroughly and were a fair 
match for the Russians alike on land and sea. 

China in Former Times. — The next Asiatic country of 
which mention needs to be made is the great and populous 
empire of China. This ancient country, like its neighbor, 
India, has never been a warlike and conquering land, but 
has several times been conquered. It was conquered by 
the Mongols in their great outbreak, and Kublai Khan made 
himself master of a vast empire, that extended from the Polar 
Sea to the Strait of Malacca. It was in his reign (1260-1294) 
that Marco Polo made his celebrated visit to that country 
and brought the first useful knowledge of it to Europe. 

The Manchu Conquest. — In the seventeenth century 
China was conquered again, this time by the Tartars of Man- 
churia, the old dynasty of kings being overthrown and a line 
of Manchu kings founded in 1644. This line still holds 
the throne. It is as a sign of their subjection that all the 
Chinese are obliged to wear their hair in long cues. 

Foreign and Civil "Wars in China. — The Chinese did not 
welcome foreigners any more than the Japanese had done, 
but gradually many of these unwelcome visitors forced their 
way in. A war took place with Great Britain in 1840, on 
the question of the opium trade, the result being that the 
Chinese were obliged to open several ports to commerce and 
to yield to Great Britain the island of Hong Kong. A second 
war, with England and France, took place in 1857, and a 



524 MODERN HISTORY 

third one in 1860. In the last the city of Peking, the Chi- 
nese capital, was taken, and the palace of the emperor was 
ruined. These wars broke down the seclusion of China and 
opened it to the world. Another important event in Chi- 
nese history was the great Taiping rebellion, which contin- 
ued from 1850 till 1864. During its progress great districts 
were laid waste and a vast number of lives were lost. 

Seizures of Chinese Territory and the Boxer Out- 
break. — Alter the war of China with Japan, Russia got pos- 
session of the important harbor of Port Arthur, and Great 
Britain and Germany also obtained valuable districts on the 
Chinese coast. This and troubles with the missionaries 
so added to the bitter feeling of the Chinese against the 
foreigners that in 1900 a great outbreak took place against 
them, many missionaries being killed and the foreign lega- 
tions at Peking besieged by the insurgents, who belonged to 
a society called Boxers. The soldiers aided them, and the 
government did not interfere. 

The Punishment of China. — The great danger of the 
foreign ministers and the murder of the German minister 
caused the several powers to land troops, and after some 
severe fighting a march was made on Peking, which city 
was taken and the ministers and their people were rescued. 
This outbreak, and the support given it by the Chinese gov- 
ernment, led to severe demands by the Western nations, 
"which China was forced to grant. They included a large 
indemnity in money. 

Russian Conquests in Northern Asia. — We have still 
to speak of a very important part of the history of Asia, 
that of its warlike invasion by Russia and the vast posses- 
sions gained by that aggressive nation. These began as early 
as 1580, when Siberia was invaded. It was rapidly overrun, 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 525 

and an immense territory added to the Russian Empire. 
Since that date a large Russian population has settled in 
Siberia, and within late years a railroad has been laid across 
its whole great length. From 1851 to 1857 Russia took 
from China important districts on the Amur River, and as a 
result of the Boxer outbreak of 1901 it gained a strong hold 
on the Chinese province of Manchuria, and extended its 
trans-Siberian railway to Port Arthur, on the southern ex- 
tremity of that province. It was this that brought on the 
war of 1 904 between Russia and Japan. 

Russia in Central Asia. — Russia has made equal progress 
in South and Central Asia. A war took place with Sha'myl, 
the leader of the mountain tribes of the Caucasus, which led 
to the conquest of their country and its annexation to Russia 
in 1859. Soon after that a war began with the fierce tribes 
of Turkestan', and between 1865 and 1875 these were con- 
quered, and their country was added to Asiatic Russia. 
Thus a great part of the vast continent of Asia came under 
the control of Russia, whose territory now extends from the 
Polar Sea to the borders of Persia and Afghanistan', and, 
north of China, from Europe to the Pacific Ocean. In the 
modes we have mentioned far the greater part of Asia has 
been divided up between the powers of Europe, while the 
remainder is threatened with the same fate. In past times 
Asia sent its hordes to conquer Europe. In recent times 
Europe has reacted on Asia. 



CHAPTER III 

AFRICA AND THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 

A Land of Mystery. — We come now to the story of 
Africa, the " Dark Continent, 1 ' as it has long been called. 
This title applies in a double way, — it fits the color of the 
people and the mystery in which the country has long 
lain. Aside from its northern border — what we may call 
the Mediterranean states — Africa has had no known his- 
tory until within recent times. Within the memory of 
millions of men now living the interior of this continent 
was as unknown as the mountains of the moon. But this 
is no longer the case. Daring travellers have traversed the 




A Desert Camp. 

land from end to end and from side to side, and Africa has 
of late years begun to make a history of its own. 

Egypt's Recent Story. — In the northeast corner of the 
continent lies the far-famed country of Egypt, with a 

526 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 527 

history going back to the very earliest date. But Egypt lost 
its independence some twenty-five centuries ago, and since 
then it has had no national history. It has been held in suc- 
cession by the Persians, the Macedonians, the Romans, the 
Saracens, and the Turks, and since 1881 has been under the 
control of the British. It is still looked upon as a province 
of Turkey, but Great Britain is now the true lord and 
master of the land. This is a very good thing for the Egyp- 
tian people, for their country has grown prosperous under 
British rule ; great dams have been built to hold back the 
waters of the Nile and feed them out to the fields, so that 
far more of the land may be watered and made fertile ; the 
fierce Arabs of the south have been defeated and overcome, 
and the dominion of Egypt has been extended to the great 
lakes of the far south, in which its grand river, the Nile, has 
its rise. 

The Barbary States. — Along the coast of the Mediter- 
ranean Sea, westward from the desert border of Egypt, there 
extend what are often called the Barbary States. In these 
once stood the great city of Carthage, the rich Phoenician 
colony which was utterly destroyed by Rome. After the 
fall of Rome this region was held in succession by the 
Vandals, the Greeks, the Saracens and the Turks. It in- 
cludes the Moorish states of Tripoli, Tunis, Algeria, and 
Morocco, with which Turkey has long had very little to do, 
and whose sea-going people long kept up the habit of piracy 
which came down from the days of ancient Rome. For a 
long time the mercantile nations of Europe paid tribute to 
the rulers of these pirate states, to save their ships from 
being robbed and their sailors from being sold as slaves. 

America and the Pirates. — In 1785 the merchant ships 
of the United States began to enter the Mediterranean, and 



528 MODERN HISTORY 

were treated in the same way. For a time that country 
paid tribute also, but it soon grew tired of this, and sent 
strong fleets to those waters, which took and sunk some of 
the pirate ships and threatened with bombardment the cities 
of Algiers and Tripoli. This so frightened their rulers that 
they were glad to make treaties in which they agreed to let 
American vessels alone. Since 1815 there have been no 
pirates in those seas. 

France takes Algeria and Tunis. — In 1830 the French 
sent armies into Algeria, and after some hard fighting con- 
quered the country. In 1881 they also took possession of 
Tunis. France in addition claims the Sahara Desert south 
of these countries, and has done much to make fertile spots 
in this vast desert by sinking artesian wells, and thus water- 
ing the fertile soil. 

The " Dark Continent." — If now we come to Africa 
south of Egypt and of the vast Desert of Sahara, we reach 
the " Dark Continent 1 ' above spoken of, the land of the 
black-skinned African, which for so many ages remained 
unknown. About the only portion of it which has an 
ancient history is the country of Abyssin'ia, which lies on 
the east coast, adjoining the mouth of the Red Sea. 

The Story of Abyssinia. — Abyssinia is a land of white 
men, having been settled in very ancient times by people of 
the Semitic race. These may have crossed the sea from 
Arabia to settle in this land. The Abyssinians, while only 
partly civilized, have been Christians from very early times. 
They were converted by Christian missionaries in the fourth 
century. In 1855 Theodore, their king or Negus, began to 
oppress the agents and missionaries of Great Britain. A 
British army was sent to punish this barbarous ruler, and 
Magda'la, his capital, was taken by storm. Theodore then 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 529 

killed himself. In 1889 an able king named Men'elik suc- 
ceeded to the throne. At this time Italy was seeking to 
gain control of Abyssinia, and sent its armies inland until, 
in 1894, a war began. In 1896 the Italians were totally 
defeated and forced to acknowledge the independence of 
Abyssinia. Since then King Menelik has proved himself a 
good and just ruler. 

The Early Discoveries. — The modern world knew noth- 
ing of Africa south of the countries named till after 1432, 
when the Portuguese began their voyages of discovery. 
These were kept up till 1497, and Portugal made settle- 
ments on the west and east coasts. The discovery of the 
interior of Africa came much later. The most famous of 
the early discoverers were James Bruce, who travelled 
through Abyssinia to the source of the Blue Nile in 1768- 
1773, and Mungo Park, who discovered the upper waters of 
the great Niger River in 1795-1796. 

The Dutch Settlement. — Settlements were made from 
time to time by the English, French, and Dutch, the most 
important of them being the settlement of the Dutch at the 
Cape of Good Hope, made about 1650. This was taken 
from Holland by the British in 1795, and since 1815 it has 
been acknowledged British territory. 

Livingstone and Stanley. — As the nineteenth century 
advanced travellers in Africa grew more numerous, and the 
country was widely explored. The greatest of these ad- 
venturous men was David Livingstone, a Scotch missionary, 
who began his travels in Africa in 1849. He was the first 
European to set foot in Central Africa, where he continued 
to make valuable discoveries for many years. For a long 
time he was lost in the far interior, and in 1871 Henry M. 
Stanley, another famous explorer, was sent in to search 

34 



530 MODERN HISTORY 

for him. He discovered him at a negro town on Lake Tan- 
ganyika. Soon after that the great traveller died. 

Stanley's Great Journeys. — Stanley continued his travels, 
and in 1874 set out on an expedition in which he discovered 
the grand Congo River, which he followed to the sea, being 
the first to cross the country from ocean to ocean. In 1886- 
1889 he made another splendid journey, passing through 
the great forest of Central Africa to the region of the lakes 
in which the Nile has its source. This famous traveller 
afterwards lived long in England, dying on the 10th of May, 
1904. 

Other Travellers. — Other daring travellers made impor- 
tant discoveries, entering at various points and traversing 
Africa to north, south, east, and west, until it ceased to be a 
"Dark Continent," and became by 1900 nearly as well 
known as some of the older continents. 

The "Partition of Africa." — Alter the period of dis- 
covery began the period of settlement. The nations of 
Europe grew eager to possess portions of this great virgin 
continent, so long given up to savage and barbarian tribes, 
and what is known as the " partition of Africa," or its 
division between- the European powers, came into play. 

The Congo Free State. — Before 1876 no nations except 
England, France, and Portugal held lands in Africa, and 
these seemed well content with what little they had. After 
that date new settlements began to be made, stations being 
formed on the Congo River, and in 1885 the Congo Free 
State of Central Africa was formed. This is under the 
patronage of King Leopold of Belgium, by whom its govern- 
ment is controlled. It is about nine hundred thousand 
square miles in area, and embraces the vast upland region 
through which flows the Congo and its many branches. It 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 531 

has its thriving settlements, its steamboats on the rivers, and 
its railroad inward from the coast. 

Claims of England, Germany, and France. — After this 
central state was formed England, France and Germany 
began to claim vast areas in the .remaining parts of the 
African continent. England had long held Cape Colony in 
the south, which it gradually extended far into the interior. 
It also took possession of a very large district in the east- 
central region, extending inward to the lake country, and 
also a valuable district on the Guinea coast, reaching far 
inward from the mouth of the Niger River. Germany ob- 
tained a large holding on the east coast, reaching inland to 
the Congo Free State, and others in the southwest and the 
Guinea regions. France obtained vast tracts of land in 
north-central Africa, crossing the continent from the Atlantic 
to the British possessions in the east, and stretching down- 
ward to the lower Congo. 

The Possessions of the Powers. — British Africa, at the 
present time, embraces more than two million five hundred 
thousand square miles, and French Africa nearly three mil- 
lion, though the greater part of this is in the Sahara Desert. 
Germany claims nine hundred and twenty thousand, Portu- 
gal seven hundred and thirty-five thousand, and the Congo 
Free State, as already said, nine hundred thousand square 
miles. Italy, Spain, and Turkey also have their shares, and 
nearly the whole of Africa has been divided up between the 
greedy powers of Europe. But as yet their settlements are 
mainly on or near the coast, and their great possessions are 
largely on paper only. It may be long before much of the 
territory claimed is really occupied. 

British South Africa. — This cannot be said of the 
British possessions in South Africa. These are of immense 



532 



MODERN HISTORY 



value, as they contain diamond-mines of fabulous richness, 
and gold-mines equal to those of Australia and the United 
States. This South African colony has a history of its own, 
which must now be told. 

The Migration of the Boers. — Great Britain, as has been 
said, obtained possession of the Boer Republic at the Cape 




A Boer Commando. 



of Good Hope in 1815. The sturdy Boers, of Dutch and 
French descent, did not like their new masters, and the 
most of them emigrated to the north from 1833 to 1837. 
In 1840 they founded a new republic in Natal. But soon 
the British claimed this country also, so the Boers moved 
on into the highland region, where they founded two re- 
publics, named the Transvaal Republic and the Orange River 
Free State. 

"War with the Boers. — In 1877 Great Britain laid claim 
to this country, as it had done to the others, and sent troops 
there to take possession. But the Boers were not ready to 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 



533 



give up and again move on, and a war followed, in which 
the British forces met with a severe defeat in 1881. In this 
way the Boers won back their independence. 

The Gold-Mines and the Foreigners. — A number of years 
later rich gold-mines were discovered in the Transvaal coun- 
try, and British and other miners came there in multitudes, 
till the foreign population was much greater than the native. 
The mining city of Johannesburg grew till it had a popula- 
tion of one hundred and fifty thousand. 




J OHANNESBUEG. 



Hostile Belations of Britons and Boers. — Disputes and 
complaints soon began. The foreigners wanted the right to 
vote, which the Boers would not give them. In 1895 a 
party of British settlers invaded the Transvaal, hoping to 
take it from the Dutch, but they were defeated and made 
prisoners. Matters grew steadily worse until 1899, when 
Great Britain took up the case of the mining settlers and 
demanded that they should be given certain political rights. 
British troops were sent to South Africa, and, as a result, 



534 MODERN HISTORY 

President Kriiger, of the Transvaal or South African Re- 
public, declared war against Great Britain and sent a Boer 
army into Natal on October 12, 1899. 

The "War and its Result. — The war that followed was 
hotly contested and continued for nearly three years. At 
first the Boers were successful, but Great Britain continued 
to send troops till she had two hundred and fifty thousand 
men in the field. This was nearly ten times as many as the 
Boers had under arms, so that the country was now quickly 
overrun. But the brave Boers were not beaten. They 
began a guerrilla war and held their own for more than a 
year longer. They did not surrender till May 30, 1902, 
when their numbers had become so few that they could 
fight no longer. They were granted very favorable terms, 
but their independence came to an end, and their country 
was added to the great colonial empire of Great Britain. 

A Great Pacific Colony. — We have named three of the 
great colonies of Great Britain, — Canada, India, and the 
African possessions. There is still another, the enormous 
island of Australia, so immense that it is now classed with 
the continents. This lies in the South Pacific Ocean, to the 
south of India and to the east of Africa. South of it is 
another important British colony, the group of fertile islands 
known as New Zealand. 

The Settlement of Australia. — The first Englishman to 
see the shores of Australia was Captain Dampier, in 1688. 
A century later, in 1788, the first settlement was made in 
New South Wales. Since that time the occupation of this 
great island has gone on without disturbance, for its inhabi- 
tants were scattered tribes of low savages who made no 
opposition. In 1851 gold was discovered, which added 
greatly to the population, the mines of Australia being among 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 535 

the richest on the earth. But the whole of Australia cannot 
be settled, since its great interior is largely a rainless desert, 
and the population cannot go far inland from the coast. 
The country has now a population of nearly four millions, 
with a government in great part independent. There are 
six Australian states, including the neighboring Island of Tas- 
mania, and these have recently united into a federal union, 
named the Commonwealth of Australia, which is under a 
British governor-general, but in practice governs itself. 

The Philippine and other Islands. — We need only say 
further that the numerous islands of the Pacific Ocean have 
been claimed by the nations of Europe till hardly one of 
them remains independent. The latest historical event in 
this region had to do with the Philippine Island group, which 
was discovered by Magellan in 1521 and was annexed to 
Spain in 1569. In 1898, after the war between Spain and 
the United States, these islands were ceded to the latter 
country. But their new owners had to fight hard for pos- 
session, for the Philippine natives broke out in insurrection, 
and it took more than two years to put them down. Since 
the spring of 1901 the islanders have been peaceful, and 
hopeful progress is being made. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE COLONIES AND NATIONS OF AMERICA 

Beginning of American History. — In the year 1492, 
when Christopher Columbus crossed the ocean and discov- 
ered a verdant land in the far west, he opened a new conti- 




The Ships of Columbus. 

nent to history. There lay the great domain of the red 
man, a vast territory without a written word that any white 
man could read, and with a story that was all tradition. 
Only when the whites came from Europe did true history 

536 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 537 

begin in that continent. Of this history far the most im- 
portant part is that belonging to the United States, but as 
this, no doubt, is well known to our readers, it will be dealt 
with very briefly here. 

The Settlers of America. — First came the Spaniards, who 
quickly spread over most of the central and southern region, 
and the Portuguese, who began to settle the vast woodland 
country of Brazil. The French and English came later, after 
1600, the French settling the country along the St. Law- 
rence River, and the English the coast lands between Florida 
and Canada. The Dutch and Swedes made settlements 
also, and in time all the countries of Western Europe took 
part in the peopling of the New World, as it was called. 




The Mexican Calendar Stone. 



Character of the Colonists. — The settling of a new coun- 
try is not an easy task. There were the hardships of the 
broad ocean, in little storm-tossed sail-vessels, to bear, and 
then the hardships of the shore, with cold and hunger and 



538 MODERN HISTORY 

sickness, to endure, and the savage Indians to fight. But 
the people who came were of the choice stock of Europe, 
hardy, daring, and enterprising, the best seed to plant in 
new colonies. Very many of them came from the homes of 
those humble sufferers who had been cruelly treated for 
their religious opinions, and who hoped to find a land in 
which they would be free to worship God in the way their 
conscience told them was right. 

The Nationalities and Quarrels of Settlers. — The Span- 
ish settlements grew rapidly, and many colonies were founded 
in South and Central America. The English and French 
came more slowly. But in time these also grew in numbers, 
and quarrels arose as to who owned the land. The English, 
you should remember, were between the French and Span- 
ish, and each claimed far more than they had occupied. 
The claims of these three peoples often covered the same 
territory. 

A Series of Hostilities. — On this account fighting began 
between the English of South Carolina and Georgia and the 
Spaniards of Florida, and also between the English of New 
England and the French of Canada. But this fighting led at 
first to nothing but bloodshed and suffering, for when it was 
over each party still held on firmly to the land it had settled. 
The Indians, the old owners of the country, fought also, and 
did all they could to kill the white men or drive them away. 
But the whites knew more about the art of war than the 
savages, and drove them back and took from them a great 
deal more of their land. 

The French and English in the Ohio Country. — The 
time came when a great war began between the English and 
French. You must bear in mind that for many years the 
British settlements kept close to the ocean shores. Only 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 539 

very slowly did they spread inland, and it was not until 
about 1750 that the people began to think of settling the 
country west of the mountains and along the Ohio River. 
Before this time the French had gone west by way of the 
Great Lakes and south down the Mississippi River, and they, 
too, now began to push into the Ohio country. It was this 
that brought on the first great war in America. 

The French and Indian War. — This war is known in 
history as the French and Indian War. It began in the 
country about the head-waters of the Ohio, and the first 
fighting was done by Virginia troops, led by a young officer 
named George Washington. But as the war went on it 
spread through New York and New England, and kept up 
for seven years. It was not confined to America, but there 
was fighting all through Europe, where it became known as 
the Seven Years' War. 




The Heights of Quebec. 



The Result of the War. — In America many of the 
Indians helped the French, and there were fierce battles, now 
one side winning and now the other. But in the end the 
English drove the French back and invaded Canada, and 



540 MODERN HISTORY 

took the cities of Quebec and Montreal. When the war 
ended France gave up the whole of Canada to Great Britain, 
which also won the Ohio Valley and all the country as far 
west as the Mississippi River. 

Causes of Rebellious Feeling. — After the war was over 
the British colonists settled down and began to develop the 
country. Many more came from Europe, and the people 
began to grow prosperous. But soon new troubles arose. 
The King of England wanted money, and tried to tax the 
Americans, and the English Parliament said that they should 
not make any goods for themselves, but should buy all they 
wanted from English merchants and manufacturers. There 
were other things also that made ill-feeling. 

How the Revolution began. — When so much bad feeling 
exists between two countries it does not take much to bring 
on war. King George grew so angry with the people of 
Boston, in Massachusetts, that he sent soldiers there, and in 
April, 1775, these soldiers tried to seize some arms which 
the people had collected at the village of Concord. This 
brought about a fight in which the soldiers got much the 
worst of it. The farming people at once 'began to besiege 
the British in Boston, and in this way began what is known 
as the American Revolution. 

The Revolution and its Outcome. — The war that followed 
lasted for about seven years. George Washington, he who 
fought the first battle in the French and Indian War, com- 
manded the American armies, and proved himself one of 
the great soldiers and great men of the world. Strong 
armies were sent over from England, and at times it seemed 
as if Washington and his ragged and hungry troops could 
not fight any longer. But there was no surrender in George 
Washington, and Benjamin Franklin, another great American, 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 



541 



got help from France, and after two British armies had been 
made to surrender to the Americans, King George gave up 
the fight and agreed that the colonies in America should be 
free. 

Political History of the Revolution. — Such was the 
military history of the Revolution ; now let us speak of its 
political history. There were thirteen English colonies in 
America, stretching from New Hampshire to Georgia. These 
had long been separate, each like a small nation of its own, 
but when the trouble with England came on they thought it 
best, to act together ; so a congress was elected and met in 




Signing the Declaration. 



Philadelphia in 1774. We shall here speak of only one of 
the things done by the Continental Congress. This was the 
Declaration of Independence, a famous state-paper drawn up 
by Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, and adopted by Congress 
on the 4th of July, 1776. The name of United Colonies was 
changed to United States of America, which was declared to 



542 MODERN HISTORY 

be a free and independent nation, over which Great Britain 
had no longer any control. 

The Articles of Confederation. — The new States made 
new governments for themselves, and adopted Articles of 
Confederation for their united government. But when the 
war was over, and the people settled down again to the 
affairs of peace, it was soon found that these "Articles" 
were very weak and feeble. The States had kept nearly all 
the power to themselves and left very little to Congress, and 
wise men saw that the Union could not be kept together 
very long unless it had a stronger bond to hold it. 

The Making- of the Constitution. — It was this that 
brought about the Federal Convention, which was held in 
Philadelphia, hi 1787, to form a new Constitution, or plan 
of government, for the United States. The ablest statesmen 
of the country were members of this Convention, and George 
Washington presided over it. It was 
four months in session, and when it 
adjourned it had formed the splendid 
Constitution which has ever since been 
the foundation stone of the govern- 
ment of the United States. It was 
strong where the old Articles of Con- 
federation had been weak, and it has 
proved its strength many times since, 
binding the Union of States into a great 

Geoege Washington. ° ° 

and powerful nation. 
The New Government. — The Constitution provided for a 
President to rule the country under the laws, a Congress of 
Senators and Representatives to make the laws, and a 
Supreme Court to decide if the laws agreed with the Constitu- 
tion. The new government began its existence on April 30, 




THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 



543 



1789, when Washington took his seat as the first President 
of the United States. The people looked on him as the 
Father of his Country, and no one else was thought of for 
President. 




Independence Hall at the Time of the Revolution. 

Hamilton and the Finances. — Now we must go on rapidly 
with what followed. The country was very poor and its 
money affairs were in a terrible state, but Alexander Hamil- 
ton, a great financier, was made Secretary of the Treasury, 
and he managed the money question so wisely that the 
country was soon getting on very well. 

New Territory purchased. — After 1800 the country be- 
came very prosperous. At that time the United States 
extended only to the Mississippi River, and Spain claimed 
the great territory west of that river. This had once be- 
longed to France, and in 1800 Napoleon induced Spain to 
give it back to France. But he soon grew afraid that Eng- 
land, with her powerful fleet, would take it from him, so in 
1803 he sold it to the United States for fifteen million dollars. 
This great territory extended as far as the Rocky Mountains, 
and was of immense fertility and value. Its sale to the 



544 MODERN HISTORY 

United States is known in history as the Louisiana Purchase. 
This event was celebrated in 1904 by a splendid World's 
Fair at the city of St. Louis. 

The War of 1812. — In the years that followed these 
events the great wars of Napoleon went on in Europe. Eng- 
land wanted sailors for her war-vessels, and began to take 
men out of American ships, claiming that they were British 
subjects. This and other insults caused such bitter feeling 
in America that in 1812 war was declared against Great 
Britain, and for nearly three years fighting went on. When 
it ended it was seen that neither side had gained anything 
by the war, and both had lost. England had paid a high 
price for every sailor she had taken out of American ships, 
and after that she never took any more. 

The Era of Good Peeling-. — The people of the United 
States were glad enough when the war was over. Business 
at once started up, and soon the sounds of industry w T ere 
heard through all the land. For many years all went on 
very quietly. There was some trouble with the pirates of 
the Barbary states, who were forced to let American com- 
merce alone, but at home there was so little trouble of any 
kind that it was called " the era of good feeling." 

The "War for Freedom in Spanish America. — Now let 
us look at Spanish America. Spain had been treating her 
colonists worse than England ever treated hers, and about 
1810 some of these began to fight for freedom. The fight- 
ing went on for ten or fifteen years, and by the end of this 
time they had all won their independence except the island 
colonies of Cuba and Porto Rico. All of them formed re- 
publican governments, like that of the United States. The 
Spaniards still held on to Florida. But disputes and fights 
began, and Spain grew afraid of losing Florida, and sold it 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 



545 



in 1821 to the United States. This was another valuable 
addition to the great republic. 




Statue of Bolivar, the "Liberator" op South America. 

Growth and Prosperity. — During the next forty years 
the American people continued to grow in wealth and num- 
bers, and many thousands of people came from Europe to 
the United States. Its manufactures and commerce were 
very active, and it was plainly seen that the new republic 
was growing into a great and powerful nation. 

The Tariff and Slavery. — There were two subjects of 
dispute which caused much bitterness of feeling between the 
American people. One of these was the tariff; the other 
was slavery. The South was a farming country, where 
negro slaves did the field-work on the plantations. In the 
North there were many mills and factories, where large 
quantities of goods were made. A high tariff, or tax, on 
foreign goods, was laid, so as to make these costly and force 
people to buy goods made at home. 

35 



546 MODERN HISTORY 

What South Carolina did. — In the South, where there 
were no mills, the tariff was not welcome, for people had 
to pay more for their goods, so that it cost more to live. In 
1832 South Carolina declared that no duties should be col- 
lected in her ports, but goods should come in free. This 
was an act that threatened to break up the Union of the 
States, but President Jackson, a determined old soldier, 
soon made the Carolina people see that they must obey the 
laws. The great danger to the Union was to come from a 
larger subject than the tariff, — that of slavery. 

The Independence of Texas. — Let us go on now to the 
story of another war. In the southwest was a large coun- 
try named Texas, which was part of Mexico, one of the 
Spanish republics. But many people from the United States 
had settled there, and they did not like Mexican rule, so in 
1835 a rebellion broke out. The Mexicans were driven 
away and Texas became independent. In a few years after- 
wards its people asked to be taken into the United States, and 
this was done in 1845. 

The Mexican "War ; New Territory gained. — When 
Texas was taken the Mexicans became so angry that they 
began to fight with the United States. The war that followed 
was not a long one. It began in 1846 and ended in 1847. 
The Mexicans were defeated in every battle, their capital 
city was taken, and in the end the United States gained from 
them a territory containing more than half a million square 
miles. It extended from Texas to the Pacific Ocean, and 
was very rich, as was shown when the gold of California 
was found. About the same time the great Oregon country 
was added to the United States, which now stretched three 
thousand miles from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 



547 



The Slavery Trouble. — But there was one mighty trouble 
which had been growing in the United States for years. 
This was the slavery question. Many people of the North 
were opposed to slavery, and laws were passed to prevent 
it from being extended beyond its old territory. There were 
also many runaway slaves, who were helped to escape by 
Northern people, and this made the people of the South 
very indignant. At length, in 1860, the party opposed to 
slavery elected as President Abraham 
Lincoln, a strong opponent to the 
extension of slavery. 

Secession and "War. — As soon as 
the election of Lincoln was known 
South Carolina seceded from the 
Union. Soon afterwards all the Gulf 
States did the same. Four other 
States seceded later on, making eleven 
in all. These said that they were out 
of the Union, and they formed a new 
union of their own. On the 12th of 
April, 1861, Southern soldiers began 

to fire on Fort Sumter, a government fort in Charleston 
Harbor. When the news of this came north, President 
Lincoln called out volunteer troops, and the great Civil War 
began. 

Results of the Civil "War. — Of course, we cannot tell 
here the story of this mighty four years' war, with its many 
marches and battles, its vast numbers of killed and wounded, 
its frightful conflicts, and its terrible loss of property and 
wealth. The most we can venture to do is to speak of its 
results. In the end the North was the victor, and slavery, 
the cause of the Avar, w T as abolished. From 1865 till the 




Abeaham Lincoln. 



548 



MODERN HISTORY 



present day there has not been a slave in the United States, 
— that is, a man whom another man could legally claim as 
his property. But the cost had been terrible. The South 
was ruined, and could not recover for years ; the North had 




A Scene at Gettysburg. 



a debt of two billion seven hundred and fifty million dollars, 
besides great debts in States and cities. Rarely has the 
world known a more costly war. But it had removed the 
one main cause of hostility between the States, and thus 
had done a great good. 

The Career of Canada. — We have said nothing here of 
Canada, the great British colony that lies north of the United 
States. In fact, there were no events in its history of such 
importance as those that took place in the United States. 
Affairs there went on quietly, with minor troubles, and the 
most important event took place in 1867-1871, when all 
the provinces except Newfoundland joined together in a fed- 
eral union called the Dominion of Canada. It is practically 
an independent country, a governor-general of limited au- 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 549 

thority being its only political link of connection with Great 
Britain. But there is a strong link of sympathy and senti- 
ment which binds it to the mother country. 

Leading Events in Brazil. — In South America Brazil, the 
great Portuguese colony, began an important era in its history 
in 1808, when the royal family of Portugal, fleeing from the 
French armies, took refuge there and carried the Portuguese 
government from Europe to America. It was made a king- 
dom in 1815 and an empire in 1822, and in 1825 cut loose 
from Portugal and became independent. In 1831 the em- 
peror abdicated and returned to Portugal, leaving the throne 
to his son, Dom Pedro II. In 1889 a revolution in favor of 
a republic broke out, Dom Pedro was forced to abdicate, and 
a republican government was instituted. Thus ended the 
only monarchy in America. 

The Cuban Contest. — In the history of the United States 
there is one more war, with consequences of some impor- 
tance, to be mentioned. A rebellion broke out in the 
Spanish island of Cuba in 1895, and continued for three 
years. In seeking to put it down the Spanish commanders 
treated the Cubans so cruelly that the people of the United 
States became very indignant. In January, 1898, the 
American battle-ship " Maine" was blown up in Havana 
harbor, and nearly all on board were killed. This made 
the people so angry that war was declared against Spain. 

"What the "War with Spain yielded. — The result of the 
war was the destruction of the Spanish fleets in Cuban and 
Philippine waters and the conquest of Cuba and Porto Rico. 
In the treaty that followed Cuba was given its freedom, and 
Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands were ceded to the 
United States. The latter, however, were not held without 
difficulty, for a native insurrection broke out that proved 



550 MODERN HISTORY 

very difficult to subdue. But the country is now quiet and 
seemingly content. The "islands are populous and rich in 
mineral and agricultural wealth, and are likely to be of great 
future value to the United States, which has a large and rap- 
idly increasing commerce with the neighboring Asiatic coun- 
tries. 

Importance of the United States. — As regards the his- 
tory of America, we shall merely say in conclusion that the 
United States has grown to be not only far the most impor- 
tant of American countries, but in some respects the most 
important country in the world. It is the richest and most 
prosperous of all, and exceeds in population all the countries 
of Europe except Russia. No country on the earth has a 
more promising future than this great republic of the west. 



CHAPTER V 
PROGRESS IN MODERN TIMES 

Modern Progress. — We have now brought the history of 
mankind down to the twentieth century of the Christian era. 
But something remains to be said of the progress of the 
world during modern times — the advance which man has 
made in the arts and ideas of civilization. This is a subject 
far too great to be treated at any length, and the most we 
can do with it is to point out some of its leading features. 

Ancient Fields of Progress. — As has already been stated, 
man made much progress in ancient times. Greece reached 
a height of excellence in art and literature which has never 
been surpassed. Rome made great developments in the art 
of government and in legal science. The important advance 
in Asia was in religion, for there grew up all the great 
religious systems which now rule the world, — those of China, 
India, Palestine, and Arabia. In a rocky corner of Asia 
arose the great Christian religion, which now prevails in all 
the most highly civilized nations. 

Mediaeval Development. — The mediaeval period also had 
its steps of progress. In it appeared the feudal system of 
government and the institution of chivalry, which were new 
ideas in the world. And in it arose a great church govern- 
ment unlike anything the world had ever seen. The Pope 
ruled the nations, not, as in all earlier times, by the power 
of the sword, but by the power of the mind. His dominion 
was over the souls of men, and when he spoke with the 
voice of spiritual authority the mightiest kings had to obey. 

551 



552 MODERN HISTORY 

Architecture and Literature. — This period also developed 
a new architecture, as great in its way as the old temples of 
Egypt and Greece. Two new systems appeared, the light 
and beautiful Saracenic and the grand Gothic, wonderfully 
different from the architecture of ancient times. A new 
literature also arose, a crude and barbarous one as compared 







An English Palace. 

with that of Greece and Rome, but full of a fresh spirit, that 
of imagination and romance. These are some of the ways 
in which the mediaeval world broke away from that of the 
older times, and laid the foundation for the coming civilization 
of the modern world. 

Modern Progress in Art and Literature. — The modern 
civilization has grown to such vast proportions and has de- 
veloped such an immense variety of new ideas and institu- 
tions that we can speak of it only in the most general terms. 
In some respects it has not got far beyond ancient results. 
It has done nothing more admirable in art. and literature 
than was done by ancient Greece. It has added no new 
great style of architecture to those of ancient and mediaeval 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 553 

days. The only art in which it has excelled is that of 
music. There is nothing in the past to compare with the 
music of modern times. In literature the new world has 
gone far beyond the past only -in the art of fiction. The 
modern novel is a product of thought which had nothing 
like it in former times. 

Other Modern Movements. — When we come to talk of 
progress in civilization it is best to know just where we 
stand. In the stages of progress we have mentioned the 
modern world has only two things it can justly call its 
own, its music and its iiction. In these alone its art has 
gone far beyond that of the past. But there are other stages 
bf progress which belong almost wholly to itself, and in 
which it has gone forward to wonderful results. It is these 
stages which we have next to point out. 

The Thirst for Discovery. — When Columbus set out on 
his voyage of discovery over the unknown sea he was the 
pioneer of the modern world. Its great watchword is dis- 
covery. Greece was content to do great things in its little 
rocky peninsula, and cared almost nothing for the world that 
lay outside. Rome spread over the known nations of the 
world, but did not trouble itself about the unknown. In 
the modern world, on the contrary, the discovery of the 
unknown has become a passion, and it has gone on until 
nearly all the lands and seas of the world have been ex- 
plored, and civilization has made its way into continents in 
which only savagery formerly dwelt. 

The Development of Science.— The passion for discovery 
has spread into other fields than that of geography. Man 
has set out to discover all the secrets of nature. In ancient 
times only the foundation stones of the temple of science 
were laid. In modern times science has grown into a great 



554 



MODERN HISTORY 



and splendid edifice. Man has learned hundreds of thou- 
sands of facts about nature and its forces, about the winds 
and the waves, the earth and the stars, heat and light, mo- 
tion and force, electricity and magnetism, plant and animal 




The Court of Honor at the Chicago World's Fair. 

life, and so on almost without end. This is the work of 
science, and its development is one of the greatest things 
which the world has to show. 

. The Miracles of Invention. — There is another splendid 
field of discovery in which modern times have shown as great 
an advance as in that of science. This is the field of inven- 
tion. Man has grown tired of the slow work of the hands 
and has set himself to develop the fast work of the ma- 
chine. What we call labor-saving machinery has trans- 
formed the world of industry. It has been like Aladdin's 
wonderful lamp. Man has rubbed it, and a thousand mar- 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 



555 



vels have arisen at his touch. All civilized lands are now 
full of great factories and mills, filled with swift-moving and 
wonderful machinery, and from which flow goods of every 
kind in endless profusion, to be borne to all parts of the 
world and sold so cheaply that a peasant to-day can enjoy 
luxuries which the kings of old could not command. And 
the fields of the farmer are full of other wonder-working 
machines, and produce to-day tenfold the food which they 
did when men worked with their hands alone. 

The Union of Science and Invention. — These are won- 
derful triumphs for the modern spirit of discovery, but 







George Stephenson's Locomotive, the "Rocket," 1829. 

they are not the whole. • The history of progress takes us 
into another field of discovery, in some respects the most 
wonderful of all. This is the field in which science and 



556 MODERN HISTORY 

invention operate together and produce marvellous results 
which neither could do alone. A few words will show r what 
is meant by this. 

Some Striking Examples. — Science discovered that 
steam, or water-gas, had a great pushing force. At once 
invention set out to use this force, and the steam-engine was 
discovered. Without this we would not have the factory, 
the locomotive, and the steamboat, which are the magic- 
makers of modern progress. Science discovered that the 
sunlight could make impressions on certain chemical sub- 
stances, and invention gave us the marvellous photograph 
and the new art of picture printing. Science discovered 
the great force and strange qualities of electricity, and 
invention gave us the electric light, the telegraph, the tele- 
phone, the electric motor, and the trolley-car. These are a 
few of the ways in which the union of science and inven- 
tion has benefited mankind. 

The Treasures of the Earth. — You may see that we 
might go on and on, almost without end, with the story of 
what has been done by the modern spirit of discovery. 
Look at what man has discovered by digging into the earth 
and seeking for its treasures. Consider the vast quantities 
of iron and coal, of gold and silver, of lead and tin, and 
many other metals that have been dug up, and what great 
.good they have been to mankind. Then there is petroleum, 
or rock oil, of which rivers have flowed up from the depths 
for our good ; and natural gas, which serves us for light 
and heat ; and rock salt, which we use on our tables, and a 
dozen things besides. 

Progress in Government. — We must leave this wide field 
of discovery, which has been worked with such wonderful 
results, and consider some other phases of the modern prog- 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 557 

ress of mankind. One of them has been a great advance 
in the art of government. The despotic rule of ancient times, 
in which the people were slaves to the kings, has given place 
to the limited monarchy of modern times, in which the kings 
dare not break the laws made by men whom the people elect 
for that purpose. And the little republics of old, which 
were made up of a city with a small territory around it, like 
that of Athens, have been succeeded by the mighty federal 
republic of the United States, which covers half a conti- 
nent. 

Manufacture, Commerce, and "War. — Other great stages 
of modern progress are to be seen in the wonderful story of 
manufacture and commerce, which are making the world a 
hundred-fold richer than was ever dreamed of in the past. 
As for the terrible art of war, by means of which the kings 
and peoples of old sought to enrich themselves by plunder- 
ing others, it is rarely used for any such purpose in modern 
times, and the time seems coming in which all disputes 
between nations will be settled by peaceful arbitration, and 
war will be at an end. 

Freedom of Thought. — What has just been said leads us 
to consider another phase of modern progress. Man in mod- 
ern times has been reaching out for freedom in all directions, 
and one of the best of these is freedom of thought. In medi- 
aeval times, as you have seen, the clergy were the lords of 
thought on all religious subjects, and it was not safe for any 
man to think in any other way than that laid down for him 
by the lords of the church. When people began to rebel 
against this slavery of thought, an attempt was made to con- 
trol their minds by force, and the terrible persecutions and 
religious wars of which we have written came on. But 
all this failed, and to-day, in the most advanced nations, 



558 MODERN HISTORY 

men have full freedom to believe what they please, both 
about this world and the world to come. 

The Spirit of Kindness. — One result from the passing 
away of persecution for opinion, and cruel punishment for 
crime, has been a great increase in the spirit of kindness in 
the world. There is to-day no more religion than there was 
of old. There is not as much of what used to be called 
religion. But there is much more morality, men are nobler 
and better and kinder than in the narrow and bigoted days 
of the past, and the noble doctrine of human brotherhood 
and love for all mankind which was taught by Christ is 
now being practised far more widely than ever before. 

Narrowness of Sympathy in the Past. — In the far off 
times when Christ lived upon the earth and taught his sub- 
lime doctrines, there was none of the broad human sympa- 
thy among men that there is to-day. Greece was the most 
advanced country of the past, but a Greek looked upon a 
native of any outside country as a barbarian, with whom he 
had nothing in common and whose life and death mattered 
nothing to him. Rome was a far larger nation, with a 
broader feeling of brotherhood, but the Romans were cruel 
and cared nothing for human suffering outside their own 
circle of friends. 

Mediaeval Conditions. — In mediaeval times man contin- 
ued cruel and barbarous. He was narrow and ignorant, 
and had little more sympathy for the people of other coun- 
tries than for the wild beasts of the forests. The punishments 
that prevailed were of the most terrible kind, and we read 
of things being done by men high in station which it would 
seem that none but demons could do. 

Growth of Human Brotherhood. — Coming down to our 
own times we find a wonderful difference. A kindly feeling 



THE WORLD'S REGENT HISTORY 559 

has gone far to replace the cruelty of the past, and the old 
narrow national sentiment is fast dying away. The world is 
not one nation politically, but it is on the way to become 
one nation commercially and fraternally. The merchant- 
ship has brought the most distant nations close together, 
while the rapid and incessant travel of our times has pro- 
duced a spirit of acquaintance and friendliness between 
the people of nations separated by wide oceans. It is this 
which is extending the sentiment of human brotherhood far 
beyond national limits. We can feel as warm sympathy 
for sufferers in far-off India as men once felt only for the 
people of their own city. Patriotism still exists, love for 
one's country is a good and useful thing, but the opposite 
sentiment of hostility for other countries is dying out, and very 
many of us are becoming in feeling " citizens of the world. 11 
A Half-Told Story.- — Such is a very brief review of the 
story of modern progress. A thousand things more might 
have been said about it if we had had the space, and even 
then it would have stayed half told. All we shall say 
further, then, is that man in modern times has made in 
many respects a great advance beyond ancient man. And 
he is in the pathway to greater progress still. Our feet 
have just been placed on the threshold of the twentieth cen- 
tury, and no man can say what it will bring forth. But the 
best thing we can hope for from it is a greater progress still 
in bringing about Chrises injunction of universal love, good- 
will, and charity. 

SUMMARY OF RECENT HISTORY. 

Europe. 

The Holy Alliance . . . . . . . 1815 

Austria suppresses the patriotic movement in Italy . . 1821 
France invades Spain and puts down the patriots . . . 1822 



560 MODERN HISTORY 

Greece fights for and wins independence . . . 1821-1828 

Relgium and Holland separate 1830 

The second French Revolution 1830 

Louis Philippe made king 1830 

The reform movement in England 1832 

The revolution against Louis Philippe ....... 1848 

Popular outbreaks in Germany and Italy 1848 

The war for liberty in Hungary 1848 

Louis Napoleon elected president of France 1848 

Recomes emperor as Napoleon III 1852 

England and France fight Russia ; the Crimean 

War 1853-1854 

Reforms in England 1858-1871 

The French and Austrian war in Italy 1859 

A parliament of United Italy called 1861 

Prussia and Austria at war with Denmark 1864 

Austria defeated by Prussia 1866 

Napoleon III. declares war against Prussia 1870 

The invasion of France and capture of Napoleon . . 1870 

Napoleon deposed and a republic declared 1870 

Italy becomes a united kingdom, with Rome for its 

capital 1870 

The Germans triumphant and King William crowned 

emperor 1871 

Russia and Turkey at war 1877 

New states formed of Turkish territory 1878 

The Greeks at war with the Turks ; are defeated . . . 1897 
The anarchists and their assassinations of rulers . 1881-1902 

The land law in Ireland 1903 

Asia. 

The beginning of Rritish India 1757 

The great mutiny in India 1857 

Queen Victoria proclaimed Empress of India 1877 

Assassination of the Shah of Persia 1896 

The French conquests in Indo-China . ... 1885-1893 

The opening of Japan 1853 



THE WORLD'S RECENT HISTORY 561 

The Shogun deposed ; the Mikado regains power . . 1866 

The war between Japan and China 1894 

English and French wars with China . . . 1840, 1857, 1860 

The Taiping rebellion 1851-1864 

The Roxer outbreak 1900 

Russia invades and annexes Siberia 1580 

Takes territory from China 1851-1857 

Conquers the Caucasus 1859 

Subdues the Tartars of Turkestan 1865-1875 

Occupies Manchuria 1900 

The Russo-Japanese war 1904 

Africa and Australasia. 

Suppression of the Rarbary pirates 1815 

France invades and conquers Algeria 1830 

The Rritish invade Abyssinia 1868 

French protectorate over Tunis . . . 1881 

Rritish control of Egypt begins 1882 

Menelik becomes king of Abyssinia 1889 

Italy sends troops into Abyssinia 1894 

They are totally defeated by Menelik = . . 1896 

Bruce and Park, the great African travellers . . 1768, 1795 

Livingstone and his discoveries 1849-1871 

Stanley's discoveries in Africa 1871-1889 

The Congo Free State formed 1885 

The partition of Africa 1885-1904 

The British take possession of South Africa 1815 

Migration of the Boers 1833-1837 

Boer republics formed 1840-1860 

The first British and Boer war 1880-1881 

The gold-mines and miners ; invasion of the Transvaal . 1895 

War declared by the Boers 1899 

The conquest of the Boers 1902 

The discovery of Australia 1688 

The first settlement 1788 

Gold discovered in Australia . • 1851 

An Australian commonwealth formed 1901 

36 



562 MODERN HISTORY 

America. 

Columbus discovers America 1492 

Spanish, French, and English settlements . . . 1492-1733 

The French and Indian War 1754-1763 

The British colonies in rebellion 1775 

The colonists declare their independence 1776 

They win independence 1783 

The Constitution of the United States 1787 

Washington the first President 1789 

Hamilton and the finances 1790 

The Louisiana territory purchased 1803 

The second war with Great Britain 1812-1815 

The Spanish-American colonies win their free- 
dom 1810-1825 

Florida purchased from Spain 1821 

The tariff troubles ; South Carolina nullification . . . 1832 

Texas wins itsindependence 1835 

Is annexed to the United States 1845 

Oregon added to the United States 1846 

War of Mexico with the United States 1846-1847 

A great acquisition of territory from Mexico 1847 

Lincoln elected President 1860 

Secession of Southern States 1860-1861 

The Civil War 1861-1865 

Slavery abolished 1863 

The Dominion of Canada formed 1867-1871 

Brazil the seat of the Portugese government 1808 

The republic of Brazil established 1889 

The Cuban rebellion 1895-1898 

United States at war with Spain 1898 

Hawaii annexed by the United States 1898 

Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands annexed . . . 1899 

Insurrection in the Philippines 1899-1901 

Assassination of President McKinley 1901 

Cuba an independent republic . .• 1902 



INDEX 



Abraham, 54, 68, 70, 72. 

Abu-bekr, 301. 

Abyssinia, 528, 529. 

Accad, 28, 30. 

Acoadians, the, 28. 

Achsean League, the, 166, 167, 219. 

Achasans, the, 118. 

Acre, 341. 

Acropolis, the, 122, 178. 

Actium, battle of, 240. 

iEquians, the, 199. 

Mtim, 264. 

iEtolian League, the, 166. 

Africa, 302, 526; partition of, 530, 531. 

Agesilaus, 151. 

Agincourt, battle of, 365. 

Aix-la-Chapelle, 314. 

Alaric, 263, 283. 

Alba Longa, 190. 

Albertus Magnus, 353. 

Albigenses, the, 372, 403. 

Alcibiades, 147, 148. 

Alemanni, the, 290. 

Alexander the Great, 81, 91, 157-162, 

178, 186, 204, 218, 294. 
Alexander II., 517. 
Alexandria, 159, 164, 167, 301. 
Alfred the Great, 319, 356. 
Algeria, 528. 
Alhambra, the, 316. 
Alphabet, origin of the, 79, 119. 
Alsace, 440. 
Alva, Duke of, 411. 
America, colonies of, 455 ; settlers in, 

537. 
Amosis, 54. 
Amusements, Greek, 174; Roman, 269. 



Anacreon, 183. 

Anarchists, the, 517. 

Angles, 283, 292, 317, 318. 

Anglo-Saxons, the, 359. 

Anne, 451, 452. 

Antioch, 163, 338. 

Antiochus, 163, 219. 

Antoninus Pius, 253. 

Antony, Mark, 237-240. 

Antwerp, 412. 

Apennines, the, 188. 

Appian Way, the, 207. 

Apollo, oracles of, 182. 

Aqueducts, Roman, 272. 

Arabia, 299. 

Arabians, the, 296, 301-305. 

Aragon, 312, 375, 376. 

Arbela, battle of, 159. 

Arcadius, 263. 

Arch, the, 272. 

Archangel, 473. 

Architecture, Indian, 113; Moorish, 
306; Gothic, 352, 391; progress 
of, 552. 

Archons, the, 124. 

Arena, the, 270; close of the, 271. 

Areopagus, the, 125. 

Aristides, 131, 132, 136. 

Aristotle, 186; 307. 

Armada, the, 416, 423. 

Armies, Persian, 92; Feudal, 328. 

Arminius, 248. 

Armor of Knights, 332. 

Arms, ancient, 97; Greek, 155; Ro- 
man, 268; mediaeval, 332. 

Army, Macedonian, 155 ; Roman, 228, 
267. 

Arnold of Winkelried, 383. 

563 



564 



INDEX 



Art, Grecian, 175, mediaeval, 400; 

progress in, 552. 
Artaxerxes, 92, 141, 150. 
Artists, Italian, 400. 
Arts, Babylonian and Assyrian, 44-48 ; 

Egyptian, 57-65. 
Aryan Race, the, 21-23, 83, 109. 
Aryans, the, 282. 
Asia Minor, 127. 
Assembly, the French, 512. 
Assyria, 36, 38-44, 46, 47, 56, 84. 
Astyagus, 84, 85. 
Athenians, the, 127. 
Athens, 118, 122-125, 130, 132, 134, 143- 

145, 147-149, 151, 157, 167, 170, 

178, 186. 
Athos, Mount, 128, 132. 
Attica, 116, 118, 144. 
Attila, 264. 

Augustus Caesar, 241, 242, 247, 249. 
Aurelian, 258. 
Austerlitz, battle of, 495. 
Australia, 534, 535. 
Austria, 381, 383, 466, 492, 494, 495, 

498, 507, 511, 513-515. 
Austrians, the, 492, 494. 
Authors of Greece, 182-186 ; of Rome, 

47, 48, 273, 274; mediaeval, 353, 

354. 
Avignon, Popes at, 326, 386. 
Azov, 473. 

B. 

Babylon, 30, 34-37, 86, 159, 161. 
Babylonia, 25-28 ; history of, 30-37 ; arts 

of, 44-48. 
"Babylonian writing, key to, 93. 
Bagdad, 305, 307. 
Bajazet, 344. 
Ballad writers, 353. 
Bannockburn, battle of, 363. 
Barbarian class, the, 19. 
Barbarians, the, 261, 264, 282, 296. 
Barbary pirates, the, 527. 
Barons, robber, 348, 349; English, 367; 

French, 368, 375. 



Bastile, the, 482, 483. 
Baths, Roman, 273. 
Bavarians, the, 311. 
Behistun, inscription at, 92. 
Belgium, 412, 509. 
Belisarius, 287, 297. 

Beluchistan, 161. 

Bible, the, 76. 

Bishop of Rome, 321, 322 ; of Constan- 
tinople, 322. 

Bismarck, 514. 

Black death, the, 365. 

Boccaccio, 354. 

Boeotia, 152, 157. 

Boers, the, 532-534. 

Bohemia, war in, 404, 435, 436. 

Boleyn, Anne, 418, 419, 421, 423. 

Bonaparte, Napoleon, 489, 490-501, 
505. 

Book of the Dead, the, 62. 

Books, Babylonian, 45 ; Assyrian, 47 ; 
destruction of Chinese, 104, 105; 
later Chinese, 106; Hindu, 112. 

Borodino, battle of, 499. 

Boston, 540. 

Bosworth, battle of, 367. 

Bourbon, Duke of, 427. 

Boxer revolt, the, 524, 525. 

Brahmanism, 111. 

Brandenberg, 466. 

Brazil, 549. 

Brennus, 200, 201. 

Britain, 234, 291, 292. 

British Africa, 531 ; war in, 534. 

British India, 519. 

Britons, the, 292. 

Brotherhood, human, 558, 559. 

Bruges, 350. 

Brutus, 238, 239. 

Buddhists, the, 112. 

Bulgaria, 515. 

Bulgarians, 297. 

Burgundians, 288. 

Burial customs, Egyptian, 66. 

Byron, 508. 

Byzantium, 260. 



INDEX 



565 



Cadmus, 79, 119. 

Caesar, 230, 231, 233, 234, 236-238, 247, 

291. 
Caesars, the twelve, 249-251. 
Cairo, 305, 307. 
Calais, 365, 366. 
Calendar, the Greek, 119. 
Caligula, 250. 
Caliphs, the, 301, 305. 
Calvin, John, 428. 
Calvinists, the, 429. 
Cambyses, 57, 87. 
Camillus, 200, 201. 
Canaan, 69, 70. 
Canada, 548. 
Cannae, battle of, 214. 
Canute, 319, 356, 357. 
Cape of Good Hope, 529. 
Capetian line, the, 370. 
Capitol, the Roman, 201. 
Capua, 215. 
Caracalla, 253. 
Carbonari, the, 507. 
Carloman, 310. 
Carlovingians, 291. 
Carnot, 517. 

Carthage, 78, 208-212, 216, 217, 237. 
Cassius, 238, 239. 
Caste system, the, 110, 111. 
Castile, 375, 376. 
Castle, the feudal, 329, 351. 
Cathedrals, 351. 
Catherine of Aragon, 418. 
Catherine de Medicis, 429, 431. 
Catherine the Great, 478, 479. 
Catholics in England, 421^23. 
Catiline, 232. 
Caucasus, the, 525. 
Caudine Forks, the, 203. 
Celts, the, 282. 
Chaeronea, battle of, 157. 
Chaldea, 26, 30. 
Chalons, battle of, 265. 
Charlemagne, 288, 291, 305, 310-316, 

352, 368. 



Charles I. of England, 445, 447, 490 ; 
II., 448. 

Charles V., the emperor, 406, 408, 410, 
427. 

Charles VII. of France, 366; VIII., 
374, 375, 426; IX., 430, 432; X., 
509. 

Charles XII. of Sweden, 471, 476-479. 

Charles Martel, 291, 304, 310. 

Charles the Bold, 374. 

Charles the Simple, 319. 

Charlotte Corday, 487. 

Chaucer, 354. 

Children's Crusade, the, 342. 

Chilperic, 291. 

China, 99-106, 522-524. 

Chinese, the, 100, 107, 108. 

Chivalry, 330, 333, 390. 

Chosroes, 294-296. 

Christ, birth of, 248. 

Christian IV., 436. 

Christianity, 254, 255, 257, 260, 284, 
322, 389. 

Christians, the, 251, 255, 256, 259. 

Church, the, 322, 323, 389, 390. 

Church of Rome, 405, 406, 408; of Eng- 
land, 420, 422, 423. 

Cicero, 231, 232, 247. 

Cid, poem of the, 354. 

Cimbri, the, 222. 

Cimon, 140. 

Cincinnatus, 199. 

Circus Maximus, the, 193. 

Cities, Babylonian, 30 ; Asia Minor, 
127; Feudal, 348, 349; manufac- 
turing, 350. 

Citizens of Rome, 227. 

City, the ancient, 198. 

City-State, the, 350. 

Civil Service, Chinese, 107. 

Civil War, English, 146 ; American, 
547, 548. 

Civilization, 19, 281, 284, 348, 388, 518. 

Claudius, 291. 

Clement VII., 428. 

Cleon, 145. 



566 



INDEX 



Cleopatra, 164, 239, 241, 258. 

Clive, Robert, 453, 519. 

Cloaca Maxima, the, 193. 

Clovis, 289-291, 313. 

Codrus, 122. 

Coligni, 430-432. 

Coliseum, the, 235, 252, 271. 

Colonies, Greek, 126, 127, 189, 206 ; Phoe- 
nician, 208; American, 455, 542. 

Colonists, American, 537 ; wars of, 538, 
540. 

Columbus, 113, 377, 397, 398, 536. 

Combats, animal, 270, 271. 

Commerce, Tyrian, 78 ; Greek, 170 ; 
Saracen, 309 ; Hanseatic, 350 ; Ital- 
ian, 385 ; mediaeval, 395. 

Commonwealth of England, 447. 

Compass, the, 396. 

Conde, 439. 

Confederacies, Greek, 127. 

Confederation of Delos, 138, 141. 

Confucius, 101, 102, 107. 

Congo Free State, 530. 

Conrad, 339, 379. 

Constantine, 260. 

Constantinople, 260, 284, 302, 322, 339, 
342, 344, 345, 390, 400, 508, 513, 515. 

Constantius, 259. 

Constitution, the French, 483; the 
American, 542. 

Consuls, Roman, 195 ; French, 494. 

Convention, the French, 487-489, 491. 

Copernicus, 400. 

Cordova, 306, 307. 

Corea, 522. 

Corinth, 167, 219, 237. 

Corinthian architecture, 178. 

Coriolanus, 198, 199. 

Corn, distribution of, 273. 

Council of Clermont, 336 ; of Trent, 408. 

Court of Louis XIV., 461. 

Covenanters, Scotch, 425. 

Crassus, 231, 233, 234. 

Crecy, battle of, 364. 

Crimean war, the, 513. 

Croesus, 86, 87. 



Cromwell, Oliver, 446-448. 
Cromwell, Thomas, 419. 
Crotona, 189. 
Cruelty, Roman, 269. 
Crusades, 335-343, 348, 390, 402. 
Cuba, 549. 

Culloden, battle of, 453. 
Cunaxa, battle of, 150. 
Cuneiform writing, 28, 92. 
Cyaxares, 84. 

Cynoscephalse, battle of, 218. 
Cyrus, 74, 84, 85-87, 127, 150. 

D. 

Danes, the, 292, 319. 

Dante, 354, 384. 

Danton, 484, 487, 488. 

Darius, 88, 89, 92, 127, 128, 131. 

Darius II., 158, 159. 

Dark Ages, the, 284, 348, 351, 353. 

Dark Continent, the, 528. 

David, 71. 

Debtors, Secession of, 195. 

Decemvirs, 196. 

Declaration of Independence, the, 541. 

Delos, Confederacy of, 138, 141. 

Delphi, temple of, 178 ; oracle of, 182. 

Democracy, Greek, 125, 140, 169; Ro- 
man, 197. 

Demosthenes, 155, 156, 165, 185. 

Denmark, 436, 514. 

Desiderius, 312. 

Diana, temple of, 178. 

Diaz, Bartholomew, 396. 

Diet of Worms, the, 407. 

Diocletian, 259. 

Directors, the French, 492. 

Discoveries of Portugal, 396 ; of Spain, 
398 ; in Africa, 529. 

Discovery, progress of, 553. 

Dominican friars, the, 326. 

Domitian, 251. 

Don John of Austria, 411, 414. 

Dorians, the, 118. 

Doric Architecture, 175, 178. 

Draco, laws of, 124. 



INDEX 



567 



Dramatists, Greek, 184; Roman, 224. 

Dresden, 500. 

Dress, Greek, 172 ; Roman, 275. 

Dungi, 32. 

Dutch republic, the, 412. 

Dwellings, Greek, 171. 



E. 

East India Company, 519. 

Eastern Empire, the, 263, 286, 295, 296, 

388, 390. 
Edict of Nantes, the, 433, 434. 
Education, Greek, 172 ; Roman, 275 ; 

Saracen, 307 ; mediaeval, 352, 353. 
Edward I., 362, 363 ; II., 363 ; III., 363- 

365, 373; IV., 421. 
Edward the Confessor, 357. 
Egbert, 292, 315. 
Egypt, 40, 50-67, 87, 159, 163, 301, 493, 

526, 527. 
Egyptian race, 50 ; labors, 58 ; artisans, 

59 ; writing, 60 ; literature, 63 ; 

religion, 63 ; character, 67. 
Elam, 33. 
Elba, 500. 

Elector, the Great, 466. 
Elizabeth, 423, 424. 
Emperor, Napoleon as, 495. 
Emperors, Roman, 247, 249, 252, 266, 

278-280. 
Empire of Charlemagne, 313, 316. 
Empire, the Eastern, 263, 286, 295, 296, 

388, 390. 
Empire, the Roman, 241, 243, 244, 263, 

266, 310. 
England, 317, 319, 356-367, 419-425, 

444-455, 494, 497, 498, 509, 513, 

516. 
English, the, 292. 
Epaminondas, 152, 153. 
Ephesus, 178. 
Ephors, Spartan, 121. 
Epictetus, 274. 
Etruria, 189, 200. 
Etruscans, the, 189, 199. 



Eugene, 461. 

Europe, peninsulas of, 188. 
Europe, recent, 505. 
Eylau, battle of, 496. 



Fabius, 214. 

Ferdinand and Isabella, 376, 377, 398. 

Ferdinand, the Emperor, 436-438. 

Festivals, Greek, 172. 

Feudal cities, 348. 

Feudal System, the, 327, 330, 358. 

Fire Worship, 94. 

First Consul, the, 494. 

Flaminius, 218. 

Flanders, 350, 372, 458. 

Fleets, Persian, 128, 132 ; Greek, 135, 

145, 149 ; Carthagenian and Roman, • 

209, 216. 
Florence, 350, 384, 385. 
Forum, the Roman, 246, 277. 
France, 304, 310, 316, 319, 363-366, 368, 

428, 453, 461-464, 481, 484-486, 513, 

514, 520, 528. 
Francis I., 408, 423, 427, 428 ; II., 423, 

430. 
Francis I. of Austria, 496. 
Franciscan friars, the, 326. 
Franklin, 540. 
Franks, the, 283, 289. 
Frederick II., 383. 
Frederick Barbarossa, 340, 381, 382, 

385, 386. 
Frederick William I., 466, 467; III., 

496. 
Frederick of Saxony, 406, 407. 
Frederick the Great, 467-470, 479. 
Freedom of thought, 402 ; struggle for, 

505. 
French and Indian War, the, 539. 
French Africa, 531. 
French kings, the, 370-372, 374. 
French Revolution, the, 481-489. 
Friedland, battle of, 496. 
Fronde, war of the, 457. 



568 



INDEX 



Gaul, 233, 234. 

Gauls, the, 166, 200-202, 212, 214, 282. 

Galatia, 166. 

Garibaldi, 513. 

Genghis-Khan, 105, 343, 472. 

Genoa, 380, 385. 

Genseric, 265, 283. 

Geographical discovery, 395, 396. 

George L, 452 ; II., 453; III., 454, 455, 

490, 540. 
German Empire, the, 515, 516. 
German states, the, 378, 382, 466. 
Germany, 310, 316, 378-382 ; religious 

wars in, 435-441, 507, 509, 511. 
Ghent, 350. 
Ghibellines, the, 384. 
Girondists, the, 487. 
Gladiators, the, 270. 
Godfrey of Bouillon, 337, 338. 
Gods of Greece, the, 179-181. 
Good feeling, era of, 544. 
Gordian knot, the, 158. 
Goths, the, 262, 263, 283, 287, 288, 375. 
Government, progress in, 556. 
Gracchus, 227, 273. 
Granada, 307, 376, 378. 
Grand Army, the, 499. 
Granicus, battle of the, 158. 
Great Britain, 444, 452. 
Great Powers, the, 471. 
Greece, 88, 91, 115-117, 119, 124, 153- 

155, 156, 162, 164-167, 168-171, 

172-174, 175, 219, 220, 224, 508, 516. 
Greek Empire, the, 296, 298, 302, 345. 
Greek temples and theatres, 178 ; artists, 

178; gods, 180; writers, 182-185; 

philosophers, 185 ; scientists, 186 ; 

colonies, 189 ; fire, 302. 
Greeks, government of, 118 ; traditions 

of, 119 ; enterprise of, 126. 
Greeks at Marathon, 129. 
Gregory VII., 323-325. 
Guelphs, the, 384. 
Guillotine, the, 485, 487. 
Guiscard, Bobert, 320. 



Guise, Duke of, 430, 432, 433. 
Gunpowder, effect of, 334, 398. 
Gustavus Adolphus, 437-139. 
Gutenberg, 399. 

H. 

Hadrian, 253. 

Hamilcar, 212. 

Hamilton, 543. 

Hamitic race, the, 21-23. 

Hanging gardens, the, 36. 

Hannibal, 212-215. 

Hanseatic League, the, 350. 

Harold, 357; 358. 

Haroun-al-Baschid, 305, 315. 

Harpagus, 85. 

Hasdrubal, 212. 

Hastings, battle of, 358. 

Hastings, Warren, 519. 

Hebrews, the, 54, 69, 70-76. 

Hellas, 118, 119. 

Hellenes, the, 119. 

Hellespont, the, 132, 133, 158. 

Helots, the, 121, 139, 170. 

Hengist, 292. 

Henries, the German, 381. 

Henry IV. of Germany, 324, 325 ; V., 
326. 

Henry I. of England, 360 ; II., 360-364, 
371; III., 361, 362; V., 365; VI., 
366; VII., 367, 418; VIII., 418-123. 

Henry II. of France, 429; III., 433. 

Henry of Navarre, 431, 433, 456. 

Heraclius, 295, 296. 

Heralds, the Persian, 128. 

Heresy, 403. 

Hermann, 248. 

Herodotus, 184, 395. 

Heroes, age of, 119. 

Hesiod, 183. 

Hezekiah, 40, 73. 

Hieroglyphics, 28, 60, 61. 

Hildebrand, 323. 

Hindus, the, 109, 111. 

Hiram of Tyre, 79. 

Hittites, the, 55. 

Historians, Greek, 184. 



INDEX 



569 



Historic races, the 21. 

History, 17, 20, 99, 115, 286. 

Hoangti, 102-104. 

Hohenlinden, battle of, 494. 

Hohenstaufen family, the, 381. 

Hohenzollern family, the, 466. 

Holland, 413, 459, 509, 520. 

Holy Alliance, the, 506, 507, 508. 

Holy Land, the, 335. 

Holy Roman Empire, the, 379, 406, 466, 

496. 
Home rule, 516. 
Homer, 119, 120, 182, 183. 
Honorius, 263. 
Horace, 247. 
Horsa, 292. 

Houses of Lords and Commons, 362. 
Houses, Roman, 276 ; mediaeval, 351. 
Hugh Capet, 370, 378. 
Huguenots, the, 429, 431, 432, 434. 
Humbert, 517. 

Hundred Years' War, the, 363, 371, 374. 
Hungarians, the, 297. 
Hungary, 311, 312, 511. 
Huns, the, 262, 264, 265, 282, 283. 
Huss, John, 404. 
Hyksos kings, the, 54. 
Hyperides, 165. 



India, 109-113, 160, 397, 519. 
Indo-China, 520. 
Indulgences, sale of, 405. 
Industries, Babylonian, 45; Assyrian, 

47; Egyptian, 59; Tyrian, 78; 

Chinese, 101 ; revival of, 400, 401. 
Innocent III., 320, 403. 
Inquisition, the, 408, 410. 
Invention, 554, 555. 
Ionians, the, 118. 
Ionic architecture, 177. 
Ipsus, battle of, 162. 
Iran, 83. 
Ireland, 516. 
Isabella, 376, 377, 398. 
Israel, 70, 72 ; lost tribes of, 73, 83. 



Issus, battle of, 158. 

Italy, 188, 206, 227, 310, 350, 379, 380, 

383, 384, 386, 426, 492, 506, 511, 

513, 516, 529. 
Ivan the Great, 472. 
Ivry, battle of, 433. 

J- 

Jackson, 546. 

Jacobins, the, 484, 489. 

James I., 444; II., 449, 451. 

Janus, temple of, 248. 

Japan, 520-522. 

Japan-Russian War, 523. 

Jefferson, 541. 

Jehovah, 71, 72, 76. 

Jerome of Prague, 404. 

Jerusalem, 71, 223, 251, 335, 338, 340. 

Jews, dispersal of the, 252. 

Joan of Arc, 366, 368. 

Johannesburg, 533. 

John, of England, 326, 361, 362, 364, 

371 ; of France, 365. 
Joseph, 70. 

Joseph Bonaparte, 496, 497. 
Joshua, 70. 
Judea, 73, 223. 
Judges of Israel, 70. 
Jugurtha, 221. 
Justinian, 167, 274, 287, 294. 
Juvenal, 274. 



Karnak, temple of, 56, 64, 65. 

Khammurabi, 34. 

Kings of Rome, the, 192, 194. 

Kings, power of, 370, 372, 374, 401. 

Knighthood, 330, 340. 

Knights, making of, 331, 332. 

Knights of St. John, 340, 414. 

Knights Templars, 340, 372. 

Kooblai Khan, 105. 

Koran, the, 300. 

Kosciusko, 479, 480. 

Kossuth, 511. 

Kufu, 53. 



570 



INDEX 



Labyrinth, the, 54. 

Lafayette, 483. 

Lamian War, the, 165. 

Land, division of, 327. 

Language, English, 358, 359. 

La Rochelle, 433, 434. 

Latins, the, 189, 190 ; league of the, 203. 

Law, John, 462. 

Laws, of Greece, 124; of Home, 196, 274. 

League, Hanseatic, the, 350. 

Legends, Roman, 192. 

Legnano, battle of, 386. 

Leipsic, battle of, 438 ; second battle of 
500. 

Leo III., 313; X., 405. 

Leonidas, 133, 134. 

Lepanto, battle of, 414. 

Lepidus, 239. 

Leuctra, battle of, 152. 

Liberty, era of, 490 ; demand for, 
510, 511. 

Libraries, Babylonian, 29, 45 ; Assy- 
rian, 47 ; Saracen, 307. 

Library of Alexandria, 164, 302. 

Lincoln, Abraham, 323, 547. 

Literature, Babylonian, 45; Assyrian, 
47; Egyptian, 62; Hebrew, 76; 
Chinese, 106; Indian, 112; Greek, 
182-186; Roman, 247, 248, 273, 274; 
Saracen, 307; mediaeval, 353, 354, 
552. 

Livingstone, 529. 

Livy, 248. 

Lollards, the, 403. 

Lombards, the, 283, 286, 310, 312. 

Lombardy, league of, 386. 

London, 449. 

Long Walls of Athens, the, 140, 149,151. 

Lords, duties of, 328. 

Lothaire, 316. 

Louis VII., 339, 364; IX., 372; XI., 
373, 374, 426; XII., 426; XIII., 
434, 439, 456 ; XIV., 434, 457^61 ; 
XV., 462; XVI., 462, 483,485, 486 ; 
XVIIL, 501, 509. 



Louis Bonaparte, 496. 

Louis Napoleon, 510, 511. 

Louis Philippe, 509, 510. 

Louis the Gentle, 316. 

Louisiana Purchase, the, 543, 544. 

Lucretius, 273. 

Lucullus, 223. 

Luther, 405-407. 

Liitzen, battle of, 439 ; second battle of, 

500. 
Lycurgus, 120. 
Lydia, 84. 

M. 
McKinley, 517. 

Macedonia, 155, 157, 165, 166, 218, 219. 
Magdeburg, 438, 451. 
Magellan, 398. 
Magna Charta, 361. 
Magnesia, battle of, 219. 
Magyars, 297. 
Malta, 414. 
Manchuria, 523, 525. 
Manchurians, the, 106. 
Manufactures, Saracen, 308 ; mediaeval, 

350, 354. 
Marat, 484, 4S7. 
Marathon, battle of, 129. 
Marco Polo, 106, 395, 520. 
Marcus Aurelius, 253, 256,274. 
Mardonius, 128, 136. 
Marengo, battle of, 494. 
Maria Theresa, 467-470, 479. 
Marie Antoinette, 463, 487. 
Mariner's compass, the, 396. 
Marius, 221, 222, 229, 230. 
Marlborough, 451, 461. 
Marsalia, 126. 
Mary, 422. 

Mary Queen of Scots, 423, 424, 444. 
Massacre of St. Bartholomew, 431, 432. 
Massacre, the Parisian, 485. 
Maurice, Prince, 413. 
Maximin, 257. 
Maximinian, 259. 
Mazarin, 457. 
Mecca, 299. 



INDEX 



571 



Media, 83-85. 

Mediasval age, the, 348 ; end of, 387. 

Medici, the, 385. 

Medes, the, 43, 154. 

Medina, 300. 

Memphis, 52, 87. 

Mencius, 102. 

Menelik, 529. 

Menes, 51. 

Merchants, Phoenician, 78; Greek, 126; 
Saracen, 309 ; Hanseatic, 350 ; Ital- 
ian, 385. 

Merovingian kings, the, 291. 

Mesopotamia, 25. 

Methodists, the, 454. 

Mexican War, the, 546. 

Milan, 385. 

Millenium, the, 371. 

Miltiades, 129, 130, 131. 

Minnesingers, the, 353. 

Mirabeau, 482. 

Mississippi bubble, the, 462. 

Mithridates, 222, 223, 230. 

Mitylene, 145, 146. 

Moeris, Lake, 54. 

Mogul Kingdom, the, 344, 519. 

Mohammed, 296, 299-301. 

Mohammed II., 345. 

Monasteries, English, 420. 

Mongol Empire, the, 105, 344. 

Mongols, the, 298, 343, 472. 

Moorish architecture, 306. 

Moors, the, 305, 375, 376, 415. 

Moreau, 494. 

Moscow, 477, 499. 

Moses, 70. 

Mummies, 65. 

Murat, 497. 

Museum, the Alexandrian, 164. 

Mycale, battle of, 136. 

Mylae, battle of, 209, 210. 

N. 

Nabopalassar, 36. 
Nantes, edict of, 433, 434. 
Naples, 513. 



Napoleon Bonaparte, 489, 490-501, 505, 
543. 

Napoleon III., 512, 513, 514, 515. 

Naram Sin, 32. 

Narses, 287. 

Naseby, battle of, 446. 

National Assembly, the, 482, 484, 485. 

National Convention, the, 485. 

National Guard, the, 483. 

Nations, growth of, 20, 356. 

Navarre, 312. 

Navigation, Phoenician, 77, 80; Greek, 
126; mediaeval, 396. 

Navy, Athenian, 132, 134, 148; Ro- 
man, 209, 216. 

Nebuchadnezzar, 35, 73, 81. 

Necho, 56. 

Nelson, 493, 495. 

Nero, 250, 256, 275. 

Nerva, 252. 

Netherlands, the, 409-413, 492, 509. 

Nibelungen Lied, 354. 

Nicholas I., 512. 

Nihilists, the, 517. 

Nile, the, 50, 52, 57. 

Nineveh, 35, 41, 43, 44, 84, 296. 

Nobles, habits of, 354. 

Norman Power, the, 371. 

Normandy, 363. 

Normans, 319, 320, 357, 358. 

Norsemen, the, 292, 317. 

Northmen, the, 283, 317, 318, 319, 386, 
396, 471. 

Norway, 509. 

Notables, Assembly of, 464. 

Numantia, 221. 



Octavius Caesar, 238-241. 
Odenatus, 257. 
Odoacer, 266, 286. 
Olympian games, the, 133, 173. 
Olympus, 173; gods of, 180. 
Omar, 301, 302. 
Opinion, control of, 402. 
Oracles, Greek, 182. 



572 



INDEX 



Orators, Greek, 184, 185. 
Orders of Knighthood, 340. 
Orleans, 366. 
Osiris, 63, 66. 
Ostracism, 125. 
Ostrogoths, the, 283, 286. 
Otto the Great, 379, 381. 
Ovid, 247. 

P. 

Page, mediaeval, the, 330. 

Painters, Greek, 179. 

Palaces, Persian, 94. 

Palatinate, 460. 

Palestine, 69-74. 

Palmyra, 257. 

Pantheon, the, 246, 272. 

Papal states, the, 312. 

Papyrus, the, 60. 

Paris, 290, 319 ; university of, 353. 

Parliament, the, 361, 362, 372, 391, 423, 

445-447, 451, 465, 510, 540. 
Parthenon, the, 122, 140, 176. 
Parthia, 163, 257. 
Parthians, the, 235, 293, 294. 
Partition of Africa, the, 530, 531. 
Patricians, the, 192-196. 
Pausanius, 136. 
Pelasgians, the, 117. 
Pelopidas, 152, 153. 
Peloponnesian War, the, 144-149. 
Peloponnesus, the, 118. 
Penn, William, 449. 
People, the mediaeval, 353, 354. 
Pepin, 291, 310, 312. 
Perdiccas, 162. 
Pericles, 139-141, 143-145. 
Perry, Commodore, 521. 
Persecution, religious, 410, 421, 422, 

425, 428. 
Persepolis, 88, 94, 160, 161. 
Perseus, 166, 219. 
Persia, 37, 57, 81, 85-94, 150, 151, 154, 

157, 159, 257, 301, 520. 
Persian civilization, the, 91, 94, 96, 97. 
Persian defeats, 135, 136. 
Persian Empire, the, 85-91, 294, 296. 



Persians at Marathon, the, 129. 

Peter the Hermit, 336, 337. 

Peter the Great, 472-478. 

Peter III., 469. 

Petrarch, 354. 

Phalanx, Macedonian, the, 155, 159. 

Pharos, the, 164. 

Pharsalia, battle of, 236. 

Phidias, 177, 179. 

Philip II., 409-417, 422. 

Philip IV., 364, 372. 

Philip Augustus, 326, 340, 364, 371, 

372. 
Philip of Macedon, 155-157. 
Philippi, battle of, 239. 
Philippines, the, 535. 
Philistines, the, 71. 
Philosophers, the, 185. 
Philosophy, scholastic, the, 352. 
Phoenicia, 76-81. 
Phoenicians, the, 80, 113. 
Picts, the, 292. 
Pilgrims, the, 335. 
Pindar, 183. 
Piraeus, the, 137, 140. 
Pirates, the, 231, 232. 
Pisistratus, 125. 
Pitt, William, 433, 435. 
Plassey, battle of, 519. 
Plataea, battle of, 136 ; fate of, 146. 
Platjeans, the, 129. 
Plato, 185. 
Plautus, 224. 
Plebeians, the, 192-196. 
Pliny, 274, 277. 
Poems, mediaeval, 354. 
Poets, Greek, 182 ; Roman, 247, 273 ; 

mediaeval, 353, 354. 
Poitiers, battle of, 365. 
Poland, 476, 478^80. 
Pompeii, 252, 276. 
Pompey, 223, 231-233, 235-237. 
Pope, power of the, 321-323, 326. 
Pope's bull, the, 406. 
Portugal, 377, 396, 409, 529. 
Porus, 160. 



INDEX 



573 



Praxiteles, 179. 

Pretender, the, 453. 

Pretorian Guards, the, 245. 

Priests of Egypt, the, 64. 

Printing, the art of, 398, 399. 

Progress of nations, the, 285. 

Progress of the world, the, 551. 

Proscription, the, 230. 

Protestants, the, 407, 408, 410, 422, 424, 

425, 427, 436. 
Prussia, 466, 470, 496, 498, 514. 
Psammetichus, 56. 
Ptolemy, 163, 164. 
Pultowa, battle of, 477. 
Punic wars, the, 209-217. 
Pydna, battle of, 166. 
Pyramids, the, 53. 
Pyrrhus, 204-206. 



Q- 



Quakers, the, 449. 

R. 

Races of mankind, the, 20-23. 

Rameses, 55, 65. 

Reform in England, 510, 516. 

Reformation, the, 406, 407. 

Regulus, 210, 211. 

Rehoboam, 72. 

Reign of Terror, the, 485, 489, 491. 

Religion, Egyptian, 63 ; Hebrew, 75, 

76; Persian, 94; Indian, 111; 

Greek, 179 ; Roman, 255, 260 ; 

Christian, 321. 
Religious freedom, 439. 
Religious wars, cause of, 402. 
Remus, 191. 
Rennaisance, 400. 
Republic, the French, 485. 
Revolution of 1688, 456 ; French, 481- 

487, 505; of 1830, 509; of 1848, 

510 ; American, 540. 
Rheims, 366. 

Rhine, confederation of the, 496. 
Richard II., 366 ; III., 367. 
Richard Coeur de Lion, 340, 341, 360. 



Richelieu, 434, 439, 456, 457. 

Rienza, 386. 

Robber barons, the, 348, 349. 

Robert Bruce, 363. 

Robespierre, 484, 487, 488. 

Roderick, 303. 

Roger Bacon, 353. 

Roland, 312. 

Rolla, 319. 

Roman emperors, 278-280. 

Roman father, the, 274. 

Roman fleet, the, 209-211. 

Romanoffs, the, 472. 

Romans, the, 166, 167, 212, 215, 217- 

221, 291, 292, 402. 
Rome, 163, 164, 188-193, 197, 200-207, 

224-228, 243-447, 255, 263, 267- 

277, 322, 515. 
Romulus, 191. 
Romulus Augustulus, 266. 
Roncesvalles, 312. 
Roses, wars of the, 366, 367. 
Rosetta Stone, the, 61, 93. 
Ruric, 471. 
Russia, 471h173, 475, 495, 498, 508, 512, 

513, 515, 523-525. 
Russians, the, 495, 496, 499. 
Russo-Japanese war, 523. 



Sabines, the, 191. 

Sacred band, the, 152, 157. 

Sacred geese, the, 201. 

Sacred mount, the, 195, 196. 

Sadowa, battle of, 514. 

Saguntum, 213. 

Saint Bartholomew's Day, 431, 432. 

Saint Bernard, 339. 

Saint Helena, 501. 

Saint Peter's cathedral, 406. 

Saint Petersburg, 476. 

Saint Sophia, church of, 345. 

Saladin, 340, 341. 

Salamis, battle of, 134, 135. 

Sallust, 248. 

Samnites, the, 203, 230. 



574 



INDEX 



Samuel the prophet, 70, 71. 

Sapor, 294. 

Sappho, 171, 183. 

Saracen Empire, the, 304, 309. 

Saracens, the, 302-305, 312, 353, 375, 
390, 519. 

Saracus, 43. 

Sardanapalus, 42. 

Sardinia, 511, 513. 

Sardis, 88, 127. 

Sargon I., 31 ; II., 40. 

Sassanian Empire, the, 294. 

Saul, 71. 

Saxons, the, 283, 292, 311, 317, 318, 388. 

Saxony, 311. 

Savage state, the, 18. 

Schoolmen, the, 352. 

Schools, Greek, 172 ; Roman, 275 ,• Sar- 
acen, 307 ; mediaeval, 352. 

Science, Babylonian, 48 ; Greek, 186 ; 
development of, 513-516. 

Scipio Africanus, 216. 

Scipio Emilianus, 221. 

Scotland, 363, 446. 

Sculptors, Greek, 179. 

Sea-Rovers, the, 316. 

Sebastopol, 513. 

Secession of the South, 547. 

Sedan, battle of, 514. 

Seleucus, 162, 163. 

Semitic race, the, 22, 23. 

Seneca, 250, 275. 

Sennacherib, 40-42. 

Serfs, the, 329. 

Sertorius, 231. 

Servius Tullius, 194. 

Seti I., 55, 65. 

Seven Tears' War, the, 453, 469, 539. 

Severus, Alexander, 254, 257. 

Severus, Septimius, 253. 

Sheba, Queen of, the, 72. 

Shepherd kings, the, 54. 

Ships, Phoenician, 77, 80; Persian, 128, 
132; Greek, 135, 145, 149; Roman 
and Carthaginan, 209, 216; Saracen, 
309; Norse, 317-319; mediaeval, 396. 



Shumer, 28, 30. 

Sicily, 189, 208, 226, 513. 

Sidon, 77, 78, SI. 

Sigismund, 404. 

Silicia, 467-470. 

Simon Montfort, 362. 

Slaves, Greek, 169, 170 ; Roman, 226. 

Slavery, American, 545, 547, 548. 

Slavonians, 282, 297. 

Sobieski, 415, 478. 

Social war, the, 227. 

Socrates, 177, 185. 

Soissons, the vase of, 289. 

Solomon, 72, 79. 

Solon, 87, 124. 

Spain, 212, 220, 303, 308, 310, 375, 376, 
409, 413, 417, 497, 506, 543, 544, 
549. 

Spanish colonies, the, 544. 

Spanish fury, the, 411, 412. 

Spanish succession, the, 461. 

Sparta, 118, 120, 121, 129, 139, 143, 144, 
146, 149, 150, 151, 167, 169. 

Spartacus, 226, 231. 

Spartans, the, 120-122, 134, 152. 

Sphynx, the, 57. 

Squire, the mediaeval, 331. 

Stanley, 529-531. 

States-general, the, 373, 465, 481, 482. 

Stephen, 360. 

Stilicho, 263, 271. 

Strasburg, 460. 

Suevi, the, 288. 

Sulla, 222, 229-231. 

Sumerians, the, 28. 

Summary of history, Babylon and As- 
syria, 48; Egypt, 68; Palestine, 
81; Media and Persia, 98; China 
and India, 114; Greece, 186 ; Ro- 
man republic, 241, 242 : Roman Em- 
pire, 278-280 ; early mediaeval, 345- 
347; late mediaeval, 392-394; reli- 
gious wars, 441-443; 1600-1800, 
501-504 ; recent events, 559-562. 

Susa, 33, 88, 94, 159. 

Sweden, 475, 509. 



INDEX 



575 



Swiss, the, 374, 383. 

Switzerland, 374, 382, 383. 

Sybaris, 189. 

Sympathy, human, 558. 

Syracuse, 126, 147, 148, 189, 208, 209, 

215. 
Syria, 69, 301. 

T. 

Table manners, mediasval, 354, 355. 

Tacitus, 274. 

Tamerlane, 344. 

Tarentum, 189, 204, 256. 

Tariff, the, 545, 546. 

Tarquin, 194. 

Telemachus, the monk, 271. 

Tell, William, 353. 

Temple of Solomon, 72 ; of Janus, 248. 

Temples, Egyptian, 64; Greek, 175, 

178. 
Ten Thousand, march of the, 150. 
Terence, 224. 
Tetzel, 405. 

Teutonic peop'e, the, 389. 
Teutons, the, 222, 282, 283. 
Texas, 546. 

Theatre, the Greek, 178. 
Thebes, 54, 87, 152, 153, 157. 
Themistocles, 131, 132, 134, 137. 
Theodoric, 286, 287. 
Theodosius, 263. 
Thermopylae, 133, 134, 219. 
Thespians, the, 134. 
Third Estate, the, 372, 373, 465, 485. 
Thirty Tyrants, the, 149. 
Thirty Years' War, the, 435-441. 
Thothmes III., 56. 
Thrace, 128. 
Thucydides, 184. 
Tiberius, 250. 
Tiglath Pileser, 39. 
Tilly, Count, 438. 
Titus, 251, 252, 271. 
Toloso, battle of, 376. 
Tombs of Egypt, the, 65. 
Tory party, the, 451. 
Tostig, 357. 



Toulon, 490, 491. 

Tournament, the, 333. 

Tours, battle of, 304. 

Tradition, age of, 119. 

Trafalgar, battle of, 495. 

Trajan, 252, 256, 271. 

Transvaal, the, 533. 

Treaty of Westphalia, the, 441. 

Tribes of the North, the, 262, 282, 288. 

Tribunes, the Roman, 195. 

Triumph, the Roman, 232, 268, 271. 

Triumvirate, the first, 233 ; the second, 

239. 
Troubadours, the, 353. 
Trouveres, the, 354. 
Troy, siege of, 119. 
True Cross, the, 295, 296. 
Tunis, 528. 

Turanian race, the, 23. 
Turanians, the, 282. 
Turenne, 439. 
Turkestan, 525. 

Turkey, 508, 512, 513, 515, 516. 
Turks, the, 177, 178, 335, 343-345, 385, 

397, 414, 415. 
Twelve Tables, laws of the, 196. 
Tyre, 36, 72, 77, 78, 81, 159. 
Tyrian people, the, 79. 

U. 

Ulm, battle of, 495. 

Union of Great Britain, the, 452. 

United States, the, 537, 541, 542, 545, 

549, 550. 
University, the mediasval, 353. 
Urban II., 336. 
Ur Gur, 32. 

V. 
Valerian, 262, 294. 
Valois kings, the, 373, 374. 
Vandals, the, 264, 265, 277, 283, 288. 
Varus, 248. 

Vasco da Gama, 377, 397. 
Vassals, the, 328. 
Vedas, the, 109. 
Veii, 200, 202. 



576 



INDEX 



Venice, 288, 350, 384, 385, 492. 

Venus, statues of, 179. 

Versailles, 465, 482. 

Vespasian, 251, 252. 

Veto, the, 195. 

Victor Emmanuel, 513, 516. 

Victoria, 519. 

Vienna, 415, 495, 498. 

Virgil, 207, 247. 

Visigoths, the, 283, 303. 

Volscians, the, 198. 



W. 

Wagram, battle of, 498. 

Waldenses, the, 429. 

Wales, 362, 363. 

Wall of China, the, 103. 

Wallenstein, 436, 439. 

Walpole, 453. 

Walter the Penniless, 337. 

War, ancient, 96, 97; Roman, 267; of 
the Roses, 366 ; Thirty Years', 435- 
441 ; English Civil, 446 ; Seven 
Years', 453, 469, 539 ; of the Fronde, 
457; of 1812, 544; American Civil, 
547, 548. 

War chariots, Persian, 97. 

Wars of Louis XIV., 457^61 ; of Fred- 
erick the Great, 467-470 ; of Napo- 
leon, 490-501. 

Wars, Spartan, 122. 

Washington, 539, 543. 

Wat Tyler, 366. 

Waterloo, battle of, 501. 



Weapons, ancient, 97 ; Roman, 268 ; 

mediaeval, 332. 
Wellington, 497, 501. 
Wesleys, the, 454. 
Westphalia, 497. 
Whig Party, the, 451. 
Whitefield, George, 454. 
William I., 514, 515. 
William of Orange, 449, 451, 459. 
William Rufus, 359, 360. 
William the Conqueror, 320, 328, 357- 

359, 363. 
William the Silent, 411-413. 
Witan, the, 361. 
Wittenberg, 405. 
Wolsey, 419. 

Women of Greece, 170 ; of Rome, 275. 
Worship, Greek, 181. 
Writers of Greece, the, 182 ; of the 

mediaeval age, 353, 354. 
Wycliffe, 403, 404. 



Xenophon, 44, 150, 184. 
Xeres, battle of, 303. 
Xerxes, 89, 91, 131-136. 



Z. 

Zama, battle of, 216. 
Zend Avesta, the, 92. 
Zeno, 286. 
Zenobia, 257, 258. 
Zeus, 179, 180. 
Ziska, John, 404. 



THE END 



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